Principal Electrical Engineer

Leidos; Saint Petersburg (FL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos in St. Petersburg, FL is seeking a Principal Electrical Engineer to lead design, integration, and verification of advanced defense electronics and communications systems for DoD and national security customers.

You will mentor junior engineers, coordinate cross-disciplinary teams, and contribute to technical proposals, with emphasis on RF, digital, embedded hardware, and system-level verification in a secure environment.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years’ experience in electrical engineering with DoD or defense systems.
• Proven expertise in RF/microwave, embedded radios, and digital electronics.
• Experience leading cross-disciplinary engineering teams and reviews.

Responsibilities

• Lead system development from concept through integration and verification.
• Develop architectures, perform trade studies, and evaluate design options.
• Support requirements development, interfaces, and traceability.
• Coordinate multi-discipline analyses and system-level planning.
• Mentor junior engineers and ensure design quality and best practices.

Skills

RF/microwave systems

Embedded software

Digital electronics

System integration

Requirements analysis

Technical leadership

Verbal/written communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Schematic capture/PCB layout

FPGA development (VHDL/Verilog)

MATLAB/Python/LabVIEW

Vector network analyzers / spectrum analyzers

Job description

Principal Electrical Engineer – St. Petersburg, FL

The Defense Systems Group at Leidos has an immediate opening for a Principal Electrical Engineer to support the development, integration, and qualification of advanced, mission‑critical defense systems for Department of Defense and national security customers.

In this role you will serve as a senior technical contributor and engineering lead, supporting the design, integration, and verification of complex electronic and communications systems. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams to develop system‑level solutions spanning RF, digital, embedded hardware, software, and networked subsystems while ensuring performance, reliability, security, and environmental requirements are achieved.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical execution of complex electrical and electronic system development efforts from concept through integration, qualification, and field deployment.
• Develop system and subsystem architectures, perform technical trade studies, and evaluate design alternatives considering performance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, technical risk, and lifecycle supportability.
• Support system requirements development, decomposition, interface definition, verification planning, and requirements traceability.
• Perform system‑level analysis, functional analysis, interface analysis, timeline analysis, and integration planning across multiple engineering disciplines.
• Collaborate with RF, digital, FPGA, embedded software, mechanical, systems, and test engineers to ensure successful system integration and verification.
• Support hardware/software integration, system verification and validation (V&V), environmental qualification, and customer acceptance testing.
• Develop and review technical documentation including system architectures, interface control documents (ICDs), verification plans, test procedures, engineering analyses, and technical reports.
• Participate in technical design reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and customer technical interchange meetings (TIMs).
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior engineers while supporting engineering best practices and design quality.
• Interface with customers, subcontractors, suppliers, and internal program leadership to resolve technical issues and support program execution.
• Support business development activities by contributing to technical proposals, white papers, RFI/RFP responses, Basis of Estimate (BOE) development, and technology roadmaps.

Clearance Requirements

• U.S. citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance.
• Active Secret clearance strongly preferred.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret clearance preferred.
• Willingness to work in classified laboratory environments and support secure program activities as required.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline with 8–12 years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree with 6–10 years of relevant experience. A Doctorate in a related technical discipline may be considered in lieu of some experience.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in several of the following areas:
  • RF and microwave systems
  • Embedded communications systems
  • Software‑Defined Radios (SDR)
  • Digital and mixed‑signal electronics
  • Power supply and power distribution design
  • Antenna systems
  • Wireless communications and networking
  • System integration and verification
• Strong understanding of modern communications systems including waveform architectures, modulation techniques, RF propagation, link budgets, spectrum management, bandwidth allocation, and networking concepts.
• Experience performing system‑level engineering activities including requirements analysis, trade studies, integration planning, and verification.
• Experience leading technical tasks or engineering work packages across multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience supporting formal technical reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and customer technical meetings.
• Proven ability to evaluate engineering solutions considering technical performance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and program risk.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interface effectively with customers, program leadership, and multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret or Top Secret Security Clearance.
• Experience with phased array antenna systems, RF front‑end architectures, beamforming, or advanced communication waveforms.
• Experience with Model‑Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), SysML, or architecture modeling tools.
• Hands‑on experience with:
  • RF, analog, and digital hardware design
  • Schematic capture and PCB layout
  • FPGA development (VHDL or Verilog)
  • Environmental qualification testing (EMI/EMC, vibration, thermal, shock)
  • MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, or similar engineering analysis tools
  • Laboratory instrumentation including vector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, signal generators, logic analyzers, power meters, and automated RF test equipment.
  • Experience supporting DoD acquisition programs, classified development efforts, and system integration laboratories.

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.