Senior AI Platform Engineer

Leidos LLC; Adelphi (MD); Hybrid; USD 108,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Health and Wellness programs

Income Protection

Paid Leave

Retirement

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Senior AI Platform Engineer to lead the creation of a secure, accreditable AI platform for DoD use. The role focuses on cloud strategy, security accreditation, and platform engineering across AWS GovCloud IL5.

You will collaborate with ISSO/ISSM, AO stakeholders, and engineering teams to ensure secure deployments, governance, and scalable operations. This is a non-traditional AI/ML role emphasizing security and compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, or a related technical field.
• 8+ years hands-on experience in cloud, platform, DevOps, or MLOps engineering.
• U.S. citizenship with active Secret clearance with ability to obtain Top Secret.
• Experience operating in a DoD or federal accredited cloud environment (IL4/IL5, FedRAMP).

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical accreditation strategy for the agentic AI platform, including security controls for models, tools, and agent-to-agent interactions.
• Develop and maintain artifacts supporting ATO and continuous ATO (cATO) including narratives and data flows.
• Collaborate with security and AO stakeholders to translate AI/cloud architectures into authorization evidence.
• Design, build, and operate a secure AWS GovCloud IL5 platform for agentic AI workloads.
• Deploy and manage containerized workloads with Kubernetes and Docker, including observability and resiliency.
• Build CI/CD pipelines and IaC using Platform One and Terraform/CloudFormation.
• Support container hardening, image accreditation, and secure software delivery practices.
• Integrate AWS Bedrock and other authorized AI/ML services with proper IAM and data flow controls.
• Implement logging, tracing, monitoring, auditability, and cost attribution for agent activity.
• Apply MLOps including model/prompt versioning, deployment gating, monitoring, rollback.
• Mentor engineers on secure, accreditable architecture and development practices.
• Develop and execute the platform technical roadmap aligned with program objectives.

Skills

Cloud engineering

Platform engineering

DevOps

MLOps

Python

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, or related field

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

Docker

Terraform

CloudFormation

Job description

Leidos is seeking a Senior AI Platform Engineer to join our DCSB Artificial Intelligence & Agent Development team supporting the U.S. Army C5ISR Center. In this role, you will lead the technical strategy for building and accrediting a secure agentic AI platform within AWS GovCloud (IL5). You will combine deep cloud and platform engineering expertise with DoD security accreditation, RMF, ATO/cATO, and DevSecOps practices to ensure AI capabilities can be securely deployed into operational environments. This is not a traditional AI/ML development position. Your primary challenge will be creating a secure, observable, and accreditable platform on which agentic AI capabilities can operate. You will serve as a key technical interface between platform engineering, security engineering, ISSO/ISSM personnel, and Authorizing Official (AO) stakeholders. You will also help establish secure engineering patterns so accreditation is built into the platform from the beginning rather than addressed after development.

Location: Remote, however must be within commuting distance of Adelphi, MD to report on site as needed.

Clearance: U.S. citizenship with an active Secret Clearance and ability to obtain Top Secret clearance.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the technical accreditation strategy for the agentic AI platform, including security controls for models, tools, and agent-to-agent interactions.
• Develop and maintain technical artifacts supporting ATO and continuous ATO (cATO), including control narratives, architecture diagrams, data flows, boundary definitions, POA&M inputs, and security scan evidence.
• Partner with security engineering, ISSO/ISSM personnel, and AO stakeholders to translate complex AI and cloud architectures into evidence supporting authorization decisions.
• Design, build, and operate a secure AWS GovCloud IL5 platform supporting agentic AI workloads.
• Deploy and manage containerized workloads using Kubernetes and Docker, including scaling, observability, resiliency, and failure recovery.
• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Platform One and technologies such as Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Support container hardening, image accreditation, and secure software delivery practices.
• Integrate Amazon Bedrock and other authorized AI/ML services, managing IAM, network boundaries, service quotas, and data flow controls.
• Implement logging, tracing, monitoring, auditability, and cost attribution for agent and tool activity.
• Apply MLOps practices including model and prompt versioning, deployment gating, monitoring, and rollback.
• Mentor engineers on secure, accreditable architecture and development practices.
• Develop and execute the platform technical roadmap aligned with program and mission objectives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, or a related technical field.
• 8+ years of hands‑on experience in cloud, platform, DevOps, or MLOps engineering.
• U.S. citizenship with active Secret clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret.
• Demonstrated experience supporting a system through formal security accreditation/RMF, including substantial contributions to security control documentation and direct interaction with security or authorization stakeholders.
• Experience operating within a DoD or federal accredited cloud environment, such as IL4/IL5, FedRAMP Moderate/High, or comparable.
• Hands‑on experience with AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, and Infrastructure as Code.
• Experience designing, building, and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Working knowledge of how ML/LLM workloads are deployed, scaled, secured, and monitored.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain and defend technical architecture and security decisions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance.
• Experience supporting national security, defense, or DoD environments.
• Direct experience with continuous ATO (cATO), continuous monitoring, and pipeline‑based security evidence.
• Experience with Platform One, Iron Bank, or Big Bang.
• Experience with AWS Bedrock, Bedrock AgentCore, SageMaker, or similar managed AI/ML services.
• Experience securing or accrediting systems involving LLMs, autonomous decision logic, agentic AI, or dynamic service interactions.
• Experience with cybersecurity operations, security engineering, or DoD cyber environments.
• DoD 8570 IAT Level II certification or equivalent.

Why Leidos? You'll work at the intersection of cloud engineering, cybersecurity, DevSecOps, and emerging AI technologies while supporting a mission focused on protecting critical cyber terrain. You'll have the opportunity to help establish how advanced agentic AI capabilities are securely engineered, accredited, and transitioned into operational DoD environments. Join us and help build the secure foundation that enables mission‑focused AI. 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.

Original Posting: September 17, 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.

Pay Range: Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00 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.

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

• competitive compensation
• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid Leave
• 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.