Senior Systems Engineer — Cloud-Native Air Traffic

Leidos; Ashburn (VA); On-site; USD 108,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to join an Agile/SAFe development team supporting FAA modernization initiatives. You will translate regulatory requirements into testable system capabilities, maintain rigorous traceability, and work with cross‑functional teams to ensure deliverables meet safety‑critical flight service objectives.

You will collaborate with Product Owners, architects, software engineers, testers, and DevSecOps to validate system behaviors, manage requirements, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field with 8+ years of experience, or Master’s with 6+ years of experience
• Experience working within Agile development environments, including familiarity with Agile methodologies, principles, and tools
• Experience performing systems engineering activities across the system development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, decomposition, traceability, integration, and verification
• Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes and attention to detail in highly regulated or mission‑critical environments
• Experience collaborating with cross‑functional technical teams, customers, and stakeholders to define and refine system capabilities
• Experience preparing and maintaining technical documentation and requirements artifacts
• Familiarity with software development concepts, architectures, interfaces, and integration considerations
• Clear and effective verbal and written communication skills
• Experience with cloud‑based systems and modern software architectures
• Ability to obtain SF‑85 Public Trust suitability determination
• US Citizenship

Responsibilities

• Review FAA requirement documents, advisory circulars, and applicable regulations to extract intent, constraints, interfaces, and acceptance criteria
• Translate operational and regulatory requirements into detailed, testable system requirements, features, and acceptance criteria that support Agile development activities
• Collaborate with Product Owners and development teams to refine backlog items, clarify system behaviors, and ensure technical completeness and traceability
• Engage with customer stakeholders, operators, and subject matter experts to identify use cases with emphasis on completeness, testability, alignment with operational workflows, and readiness for validation trials
• Decompose high‑level regulatory and operational requirements into specific capability statements with measurable performance criteria and traceability to FAA compliance outcomes
• Develop and maintain requirements traceability between stakeholder needs, system requirements, architecture artifacts, implementation tasks, and verification activities
• Support system design discussions by evaluating technical approaches, documenting trade‑offs, identifying integration impacts, and assessing operational or regulatory risks
• Prepare and review technical documentation, including system specifications, interface definitions, use cases, operational workflows, verification plans, and requirements traceability matrices
• Participate in Agile ceremonies, technical interchange meetings, structured reviews, and system inspections
• Coordinate with software engineering, test, cybersecurity, and DevSecOps teams to ensure system requirements are fully implemented, validated, and operationally supportable
• Assist in defining verification and validation strategies, including support for demonstrations, integration testing, operational assessments, and customer reviews
• Systematically capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade‑offs, compliance rationales, and risk assessments to support program transparency and technical governance

Skills

Agile methodologies

Systems engineering

Requirements analysis

Traceability

Cloud-based systems

Communication skills

Public Trust suitability

Education

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

Master’s degree with at least 6 years of experience

Tools

Java

Python

React

Scripting languages

Jira

DOORS

Cameo

Jama

Job description

Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to join an Agile/SAFe development team supporting FAA modernization initiatives. You will translate regulatory requirements into testable system capabilities, maintain rigorous traceability, and work with cross‑functional teams to ensure deliverables meet safety‑critical flight service objectives.

You will collaborate with Product Owners, architects, software engineers, testers, and DevSecOps to validate system behaviors, manage requirements, and