Senior Systems Engineer - Product Owner

Leidos; Ashburn (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is searching for a Senior Systems Engineer in Ashburn, Virginia, to support the development of innovative air traffic systems. The role involves managing Agile teams, reviewing FAA requirements, and documenting technical specifications.

The candidate should possess experience in Agile methodologies and cloud-based system design, along with excellent communication skills. This position aims at delivering mission-critical solutions that enhance safety and operational efficiency.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant experience or 6+ years with a Master's degree.
• Experience as an Agile Product Owner with product backlog management.
• US Citizenship and ability to obtain SF-85 Public Trust suitability determination.

Responsibilities

• Review FAA requirement documents and extract acceptance criteria.
• Manage Agile team backlogs and prioritize features.
• Prepare and review technical documentation.

Skills

Agile methodology

Cloud-based systems design

Effective communication

Software testing and debugging

Customer engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field

Master’s degree in relevant field

Tools

Java

Python

React

Agile tools (e.g., Jira)

Job description

Overview

Leidos is seeking Senior Systems Engineers to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of next-generation flight service and air traffic systems. This work aligns with the FAA’s broader initiative to modernize legacy flight service capabilities, replacing aging infrastructure with scalable, cloud-based platforms designed to improve safety and operational efficiency—particularly in remote and high-dependency aviation environments. These efforts focus on delivering mission-critical, future-ready solutions that provide safety-critical flight services to the pilot community.

Note: This exciting position is currently unfunded and is anticipation of future work.

Primary Responsibilities

• Review FAA requirement documents, advisory circulars, and applicable regulations (e.g., 14 CFR parts) to extract intent, constraints, and acceptance criteria.
• Manage the backlog for one or more Agile teams, prioritizing features based on stakeholder needs, and ensuring the development team builds the right functionality.
• Engage with customer stakeholders to identify use cases with an emphasis on completeness, testability, alignment with operational workflows, and readiness for validation trials.
• Decompose high-level regulatory requirements into specific, testable capability statements (Agile features) with clear acceptance criteria mapped to FAA compliance outcomes (e.g., performance thresholds, safety margins, required reporting formats).
• Systematically capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade-offs, regulatory compliance rationales, and risk assessments with each release, enabling reviewers to trace your decision-making process and provide informed feedback.
• Prepare and review technical documentation, including use cases, user interface specifications, and requirements traceability.
• Lead and participate in structured reviews and inspections.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field and at least 8 years of relevant experience or a Master’s degree with at least 6 years of experience
• Experience and familiarity with Agile methodology, principles, and tools
• Experience in the role of the Agile Product Owner, including owning and prioritizing the product backlog, defining complete product backlog items (user stories), making timely decisions on scope, and acceptance of work
• Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes, including attention to detail
• Past practical exposure to writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining software or scripts
• Clear and effective verbal and written communication
• Experience with the design of cloud-based systems
• Experience in engaging customers to understand needs, deliver solutions, manage expectations, and maintain an ongoing relationship
• Ability to obtain SF-85 Public Trust suitability determination
• US Citizenship

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Java, Python, React, and scripting languages
• Knowledge of and experience with AI-assisted development workflows and tools (i.e. Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
• Knowledge of and experience with DevSecOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
• Knowledge of air traffic control systems, general aviation, and/or flight services
• Practical knowledge of FAA/DoD systems, technical policies, standards and orders
• Experience with leveraging requirement-management tools (CAMEO, DOORS, Jama, Jira with traceability plugins, etc.) and documentation platforms that support linking, reviews, and exportable RTMs

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.

Security and Compliance

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.