Senior Software Engineer

Leidos; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 108,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos seeks a Senior Software Engineer to join the Chinook Program supporting an IC customer with national security impact. You will lead architecture, design, and hands‑on development while mentoring engineers and coordinating with architects, DevSecOps, and stakeholders.

Responsibilities include scalable backend services, RESTful APIs, data models, and issue resolution. You will also serve as Scrum Master for the Agile team and promote best practices across the delivery lifecycle.

Qualifications

• US citizenship required.
• 8–12 years of experience (or Master’s with 6–10 years).
• Proficiency with web, APIs, and distributed systems.
• Experience with DevSecOps and CI/CD practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, integration, testing, deployment, and sustainment of a software application supporting GEOINT mission.
• Translate requirements into scalable software solutions and APIs.
• Lead technical design for components, services, and data access.
• Develop high‑quality production software and scalable backend services.
• Mentor engineers and collaborate with cross‑functional teams.
• Support CI/CD, cloud, and containerized environments.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field

Master’s degree with 6‑10 years of relevant experience

Doctorate in technical domain (optional)

Equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of degree

Tools

HTML

CSS

JSON

Ajax

REST APIs

Python

Java

JavaScript

React

Angular

Vue.js

jQuery

Spring Boot

Django

Node.js

Flask

Svelte

AWS

Azure

Windows

Linux

Git

MySQL

PostgreSQL

SQL Server

OpenSearch/Elasticsearch

Terraform

Ansible

CloudFormation

GitLab CI/CD

Jenkins

SonarQube

Nexus

Vault

Keycloak

Job description

Lead Technology Behind a Mission That Matters Great software engineering is about more than writing code, it’s about solving difficult problems, making smart technical decisions, and building capabilities people can depend on. Leidos is seeking an accomplished Senior Software Engineer to join the Chinook Program supporting an Intelligence Community (IC) customer and an application with direct national security impact. As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll be a key technical leader, shaping software architecture, solving complex engineering challenges, and helping drive the evolution of critical application capabilities. You’ll remain hands‑on while influencing technical direction, mentoring engineers, and collaborating with architects, systems engineers, DevSecOps, test professionals, and mission stakeholders. The Senior Engineer is responsible for complex software development, technical design, integration, troubleshooting, and engineering leadership. You’ll take ownership of significant technical areas and provide technical direction to other engineers while remaining hands‑on with development.

Position may be performed in the following locations below.

• Tucson, AZ
• Gaithersburg, MD
• Alexandria, VA
• Chantilly, VA
• Englewood, CO
• St. Louis, MO

Clearance Level Required: Active Top Secret/SCI with the ability to successfully pass a Polygraph examination.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, integration, testing, deployment, and sustainment of a software application that supports our customer’s GEOINT mission.
• Translate mission, systems, and technical requirements into scalable software solutions.
• Lead technical design for application components, services, APIs, and integrations.
• Develop and maintain high‑quality production software.
• Design and implement scalable backend services and modern web applications.
• Evaluate architectural approaches and recommend solutions based on mission and technical requirements.
• Develop and integrate RESTful APIs, microservices, and data services.
• Design and optimize database schemas, queries, and data‑access strategies.
• Troubleshoot complex application, integration, performance, and production issues.
• Lead root‑cause analysis for significant technical problems.
• Develop automated unit, integration, and system‑level testing strategies.
• Support CI/CD, DevSecOps, cloud, and containerized environments.
• Identify and address technical debt, reliability issues, scalability limitations, and security concerns.
• Serve as a Scrum Master for an Agile software development team, facilitating sprint planning, daily standups, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Partner with Product Owners and development team members to manage sprint priorities, remove impediments, and support the timely delivery of high‑quality software capabilities.
• Promote Agile best practices, foster team collaboration, and drive continuous improvement in sprint execution, team efficiency, and software delivery.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior engineers.
• Collaborate closely with Test Engineering, DevSecOps, Systems Engineering, Security, and mission stakeholders.
• Support production releases and operational troubleshooting.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and determine their applicability to mission needs.
• Contribute to technical documentation, engineering standards, and development roadmaps.

Basic Qualifications:

• US citizenship is required per contract.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field and 8‑12 years of prior relevant experience or Master’s with 6‑10 years of prior relevant experience. May possess a Doctorate in technical domain. Equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
• Proficiency with the following technologies: o Web: HTML, CSS, JSON, Ajax, and REST APIs o Object‑oriented Programming: Python, Java, or JavaScript o Front‑end and Back‑end Frameworks: React, Angular, Vue.js, jQuery, Spring Boot, Django, Node.js, Flask, or Svelte o Cloud Development: AWS, Azure, or similar cloud platforms o Relational Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server o Operating System: Windows, Linux o Version Control System: Git
• Strong experience with software architecture and application design.
• Strong experience developing APIs, services, and/or distributed applications.
• Strong database development and data‑modeling experience.
• Experience with modern DevSecOps and CI/CD practices.
• Experience troubleshooting complex production and integration issues.
• Experience serving as a Scrum Master or performing Scrum Master responsibilities within an Agile software development team.
• Demonstrated understanding of Agile methodologies, Scrum ceremonies, sprint planning, backlog management, and iterative software delivery.
• Experience using Agile project management tools such as Jira and Confluence to track sprint progress, manage work items, and support team collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting Intelligence Community (IC) mission systems.
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), or equivalent Agile certification.
• Experience balancing hands‑on software engineering responsibilities with Scrum Master duties on a cross‑functional Agile team.
• Experience using Agile metrics, including sprint velocity, burndown charts, and cycle time, to identify opportunities for improved team performance.
• Experience with geospatial, intelligence, or other mission‑specific data and workflows.
• Experience with AWS and cloud‑native architectures.
• Experience with Infrastructure‑as‑Code (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation).
• Experience with GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins, SonarQube, Nexus, Vault, or Keycloak.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, OpenSearch/Elasticsearch, or similar technologies.
• Experience with event‑driven architectures and messaging technologies.
• Experience with observability, monitoring, logging, and application performance management.

#Chinook #NSBA 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 15, 2026

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 $17.2billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026.

For more information, visitwww.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.