Data Security Engineer

Leidos LLC; Adelphi (MD); Hybrid; USD 87,000 - 157,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Data Security Engineer to build and optimize cybersecurity data pipelines powering defense operations. You will ingest, normalize, enrich, and manage high-volume telemetry within Elastic, Kafka, and related tooling. The role requires a TS/SCI clearance and U.S.

citizenship, with hybrid on-site work in Adelphi, Maryland. You will design, implement, and maintain data models, transformations, and quality controls, ensuring analysts have reliable data for threat detection and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 4–8 years of relevant experience or equivalent.
• 3+ years of data engineering, data analysis, or cybersecurity data engineering.
• Experience with data ingestion, transformation, normalization, or high-volume pipelines.
• Familiar with Elastic Stack, Kafka, Python, Bash, and CI/CD tooling.
• Knowledge of ECS or similar cybersecurity data models.
• U.S. Citizenship with an active TS/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design, maintain, and optimize scalable cybersecurity data ingestion pipelines.
• Develop transformations and enrichments for security log sources.
• Configure Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, and Fleet for high-volume ops.
• Maintain data models, index templates, mappings, and schemas.
• Implement data quality controls and deduplication.
• Automate ingestion and workflows using Python, Bash, and related tools.
• Monitor pipeline performance and troubleshoot data-flow issues.
• Collaborate with cyber teams to meet operational analytics needs.

Skills

Data engineering

Data analysis

Cybersecurity data engineering

Elastic Stack

Kafka

Python

Bash

CI/CD tooling

DoD 8570/8140 aligned

U.S. Citizenship

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Tools

Elastic Stack

Kafka

Python

Bash

CI/CD tooling

Job description

The C5ISR Center Cyber Security Service Provider (CSSP) delivers 24x7x365 defensive cyber operations supporting critical Department of War (DoW) missions. Our team provides continuous monitoring, threat detection, incident response, and vulnerability management across cloud and on-premises environments, including AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle Cloud, and SaaS platforms. Leidos is seeking a Data Security Engineer to build, optimize, and sustain the cybersecurity data pipelines that power these defensive operations. You will ingest, normalize, enrich, and manage high-volume security telemetry within Elastic; optimize data performance and quality; automate workflows; and troubleshoot dependencies across Elastic, Kafka, and CI/CD systems. You will partner with cyber teams to ensure analysts and defenders have reliable, analytics-ready data for threat detection and response. This position is hybrid on-site 3 days/week in Adelphi, Maryland and requires U.S. Citizenship and an active TS/SCI clearance.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design, maintain, and optimize scalable cybersecurity data ingestion and normalization pipelines.
• Develop transformations and enrichments for diverse security log and telemetry sources.
• Configure and optimize Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, and Fleet for high-volume, high-availability operations.
• Maintain index templates, mappings, schemas, and data models supporting analytics and detection logic.
• Implement data validation, deduplication, and quality controls to ensure data integrity.
• Automate ingestion, transformation, and engineering workflows using Python, Bash, and related tools.
• Monitor pipeline and indexing performance, troubleshoot data-flow issues, and optimize throughput, storage, and query performance.
• Maintain traceability and troubleshoot dependencies across Kafka, Elastic, and CI/CD tooling.
• Partner with Detection Engineering, Threat Analysis, Endpoint, and other cyber teams to support operational requirements.
• Maintain technical documentation, SOPs, and engineering artifacts.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 4–8 years of relevant experience, or additional experience may substitute in lieu of degree.
• 3+ years of data engineering, data analysis, cybersecurity data engineering, or related experience.
• Experience with data ingestion, transformation, normalization, or high-volume data-processing pipelines.
• Experience with relevant technologies such as Elastic Stack, Kafka, Python, Bash, and CI/CD tooling.
• Familiarity with Elastic Common Schema (ECS) or similar cybersecurity data models.
• Required DoD 8570/8140-aligned and CSSP Analyst certifications, as applicable to the position.
• U.S. Citizenship with an active TS/SCI clearance.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience onboarding and normalizing high-volume cybersecurity telemetry and log sources.
• Experience with Kafka, Python/Bash automation, CI/CD, or DevSecOps practices.
• Experience supporting AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle Cloud, hybrid-cloud, or multi-cloud environments.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity operations, including SIEM, threat detection, incident response, and security monitoring.
• Experience supporting a DoD CSSP, SOC, or other large-scale defensive cyber operations environment.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across complex data pipelines and interconnected systems.

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Pay Range

Pay Range: Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00 The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

About Leidos

Leidos Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers.

• Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement.

More details are available here.

Securing Your Data

Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. And Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address. If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to [e-mail].

Commitment and Diversity

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.

Original Posting: August 13, 2026 For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.