AI Engineer

Leidos; United States; On-site; USD 107,900 - 195,050; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

11 holidays per year

401K with company match

Flexible schedules

Education and training support

Parental paid leave

Job summary

Leidos in the United States seeks an AI Engineer for the Cyber & Analytics Business Area (CABA). You will lead AI-enabled software modernization and work with mission stakeholders to capture requirements and integrate AI into development workflows.

The role focuses on building AI/ML tooling, fine-tuning LLMs, and delivering secure, scalable solutions in classified environments, with growth opportunities and an emphasis on governance and secure AI practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 8+ years of related experience.
• AI-enabled SDLC architecture experience in development tooling and secure workflows.
• Hands-on AI coding agent experience with tools like OpenCode, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Aider, Continue, Sourcegraph Cody.
• OpenCode extensibility and workflow integration via custom agents, tools, plugins, hooks, and integrations.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) expertise in MCP servers/clients, prompts, transports, and auth.
• Secure AI engineering practices including governance, prompt injection mitigation, and data protection.
• Modern AI infrastructure with Kubernetes/Docker/cloud‑native MLOps.
• Active Secret clearance; eligible for TS/SCI in future.
• DoD 8570 Security+ certification expected within 90 days.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI development across a 20+ person engineering team delivering AI-enabled software modernization.
• Build AI/ML tools including LLM orchestration, RAG pipelines, automation workflows.
• Collaborate with customers through technical meetings, architecture reviews, and briefings.
• Design AI system architectures, integration strategies, secure APIs, and user tools.
• Integrate AI into engineering workflows for requirements analysis, code generation, testing, and releases.
• Configure AI agents, plugins, and automation to boost developer productivity.
• Develop documentation including user guides, API references, and playbooks.
• Support deployment and testing of AI-enabled systems in secure environments.
• Optimize AI models for performance, scalability, and mission reliability.
• Ensure security compliance with cybersecurity and DevSecOps teams.

Skills

AI SDLC Architecture

AI Coding Agent Experience

OpenCode Extensibility

Model Context Protocol

Secure AI Engineering

Modern AI Infrastructure

CI/CD Automation

Security+ Certification

Education

Bachelor's Degree in related field

Job description

Description

Leidos has a new and exciting opportunity for an AI Engineer in our INTEL Sector's Cyber & Analytics Business Area (CABA). Our talented team is at the forefront in Security Engineering, Computer Network Operations (CNO), Mission Software, Analytical Methods and Modeling, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), and Cryptographic Key Management. At Leidos, we offer competitive benefits, including Paid Time Off, 11 paid Holidays, 401K with a 6% company match and immediate vesting, Flexible Schedules, Discounted Stock Purchase Plans, Technical Upskilling, Education and Training Support, Parental Paid Leave, and much more. Join us and make a difference in National Security!

The program is seeking an AI Engineer with a proven track record in software engineering and deep understanding of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) techniques to support the exciting new AI-Assisted development mission. The AI engineer will work closely with mission stakeholders to capture requirements, aid in structured planning, and improve the certification process by introducing AI/ML tooling. Additionally, the engineer will use AI/ML to develop tools and techniques to include fine tuning Large Language Models (LLM) that assist in enhanced vulnerability identification and mitigation capabilities.

Position Responsibilities

• Lead AI development across a 20+ person engineering team, supporting AI-enabled software modernization.
• Build AI/ML tools including LLM orchestration, RAG pipelines, automation workflows, and mission-focused applications.
• Collaborate with customers through technical meetings, architecture reviews, and briefings.
• Design AI system architectures, integration strategies, secure APIs, and user-facing tools.
• Integrate AI into engineering workflows for requirements analysis, code generation, testing, vulnerability scanning, and release processes.
• Configure AI agents, plugins, and automation frameworks to boost developer productivity.
• Develop documentation including user guides, API references, and operational playbooks.
• Support deployment and testing of AI-enabled systems in secure environments.
• Optimize AI models for performance, scalability, and mission reliability.
• Ensure security compliance in partnership with cybersecurity and DevSecOps teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in System Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering Science, Engineering Management, or a related field and at least 8+ years of related experience. Additional experience may be substituted for a Degree.
• AI-Enabled SDLC Architecture: Experience designing or implementing AI-enabled software development lifecycle (SDLC) architectures and developer productivity platforms. Familiarity with internal developer portals, CI/CD automation, software delivery tooling, and secure development workflows. Understanding of how AI coding agents integrate across the full SDLC.
• AI Coding Agent Experience: Hands-on experience using, configuring, or extending AI-assisted development tools and coding agents such as OpenCode, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Aider, Continue, Sourcegraph Cody, or similar agentic development environments.
• OpenCode Extensibility & Workflow Integration: Experience configuring or extending OpenCode or similar agentic development platforms through custom agents, tools, plugins, hooks, and workflow integrations.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) Expertise: Experience building, integrating, or securing Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and clients. Understanding of MCP concepts including tools, resources, prompts, transports, authentication, authorization, permissions management, context isolation, and safe execution boundaries.
• Secure AI Engineering: Understanding of secure AI development practices, AI governance, model safety, prompt injection mitigation, data protection, and secure integration of LLM-powered systems within classified or restricted computing environments.
• Modern AI Infrastructure: Experience deploying and operating AI/ML services in containerized and orchestrated environments using Kubernetes, Docker, or cloud-native MLOps platforms.
• Must possess an active Secret clearance to be considered and would be eligible to obtain up to a TS/SCI clearance in the future.
• DoD 8570 approved security certification (i.e., Security +) (Will be required 90 days after hire).

Desired Qualifications

• Experience working in all phases of the engineering product development lifecycle.
• Experience with Agile Scrum methodology.
• Active Top Secret/SCI Clearance

Pay Range

Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.