Senior Lead Security Engineer

Leidos; United States; On-site; USD 131,000 - 237,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos seeks a Senior Lead Security Engineer to serve as the team's technical lead, designing, integrating, and maintaining security tools and architecture for enterprise systems. You will mentor junior engineers and set technical standards across projects with strong analytical judgment.

The role requires deep expertise in cloud security, vulnerability management, and compliance (FISMA/FedRAMP), with hands-on work on Qualys, Wraithwatch, and OpenShift on AWS.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM field with 10–12 years of cybersecurity experience or a Master's with 8–10 years.
• Certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, CCNP, CCIE Security, CEH, RHCSA, RHCA, RHCE, MCSE, Security+ or AWS Solutions Architect Expert.
• Ability to obtain an Entry on Duty (EOD) Public Trust.
• Hands-on experience with Qualys and Wraithwatch platforms; Windows Server and RHEL administration.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical authority for the engineering team, setting standards and mentoring juniors.
• Lead security projects independently, managing multiple assignments and priorities.
• Define system security requirements to meet FISMA and FedRAMP.
• Develop and enforce security policies for data, applications, and cloud infrastructure.
• Oversee deployment of Qualys and Wraithwatch; integrate with SIEM/SOAR using Python/PowerShell.
• Optimize vulnerability management and AI workflows; integrate with SIEM platforms.
• Configure cloud-hosted security solutions and manage AWS network security resources.
• Install, upgrade, and maintain Windows and Linux servers; troubleshoot Linux issues.
• Collaborate with DHS clients to resolve cross-domain issues and document analyses.

Skills

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Strong communication

FISMA/FedRAMP knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in STEM field

Master's degree

Tools

Qualys

Wraithwatch

OpenShift on AWS

Windows Server

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Leidos is seeking a Senior Lead Security Engineer to support a high-visibility, strategic cybersecurity task order. This individual will serve as the team's technical lead, designing, integrating, and maintaining the security tools and architecture that keep enterprise systems and networks secure, functional, and scalable. The ideal candidate is a self-starter with strong analytical judgment who can manage multiple priorities with minimal oversight.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical authority for the engineering team, setting technical standards and best practices and mentoring junior engineers.
• Lead complex technical and compliance-focused security projects independently while managing multiple assignments and shifting priorities.
• Define system security and design requirements to meet FISMA and FedRAMP compliance standards.
• Develop, implement, and enforce security policies and processes for data, applications, and cloud infrastructure.
• Oversee deployment and maintenance of Qualys and Wraithwatch agents and connectors to ensure full coverage, and integrate both platforms with SIEM/SOAR and other security tools using Python and PowerShell.
• Optimize vulnerability management and AI solutions, including data refinement, automated workflows and playbooks, and integration with enterprise and SIEM platforms.
• Configure cloud-hosted SaaS security solutions to manage policies, control reporting data, and respond to incidents.
• Manage AWS network security resources, including AWS Network Firewall, Network ACLs, and security groups.
• Install, upgrade, maintain, and tune Windows and Linux servers in a virtual infrastructure, and resolve Linux system errors, crashes, and disk and file system issues.
• Collaborate with engineers, application owners, technical leads, and clients across DHS to resolve network-, system-, and application-level issues and assess the impact of change requests.
• Produce technical documentation, Visio diagrams, root cause analyses, and briefings to support engineering assessments and process improvement.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM or related field with 10–12 years of relevant cybersecurity experience, or a Master's degree with 8–10 years.
• At least one of the following certifications: CISSP, CCSP, CCNP, CCIE Security, CEH, RHCSA, RHCA, RHCE, MCSE, CompTIA Security+, or AWS Solutions Architect Expert.
• Ability to obtain an Entry on Duty (EOD) Public Trust.
• Extensive hands-on experience with the Qualys and Wraithwatch platforms.
• Experience installing, configuring, securing, and troubleshooting Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (or similar distributions).
• Proven experience deploying and supporting Red Hat OpenShift clusters on AWS.
• Working knowledge of cloud architecture, provisioning, and monitoring, and of building and using CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience reviewing vulnerability and compliance scans, recommending remediation, and managing POA&Ms.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience automating management tasks with Ansible, Puppet, or Chef.
• Experience with Wiz, Sepio, and Nucleus.
• Experience with Wraithwatch is a plus.

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

October 21, 2026

Pay Range

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand 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 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 $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. 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 at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.

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.

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