Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner

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

Benefits offered by this job

Health and Wellness programs

Income Protection

Paid Leave and Retirement

Job summary

Leidos seeks a Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner to join the Air Traffic Business Area, supporting the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP). The role combines systems engineering with product ownership in a SAFe/Agile context to deliver real-time, safety-critical software.

The position is hybrid: three days on-site and two days from home for those within commutable distance of Gaithersburg, MD, with remote options if not.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related discipline with 8+ years of experience, or a Master’s with 6+ years.
• Experience with Agile methodology, principles, and tools.
• Experience as Agile Product Owner, owning and prioritizing the backlog and creating user stories.
• Ability to decompose complex requirements into testable items with acceptance criteria.
• Experience in cloud-based systems and SAFe organizations.
• Clear and effective communication; ability to maintain customer relationships.

Responsibilities

• Own and prioritize the backlog for one or more Agile teams; sequence work based on priorities and dependencies.
• Review requirements, system specs, and FAA standards to extract intent and acceptance criteria.
• Decompose platform needs into testable features and stories with clear acceptance criteria.
• Maintain traceability from requirements to verification evidence for compliance.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify use cases and readiness for validation and field activities.
• Define PI objectives, participate in PI planning, and accept completed work.
• Coordinate with Release Train Engineer, Product Management, and DevSecOps to align delivery milestones.
• Lead structured reviews and inspections.

Skills

Product Owner

Agile

SAFe

Backlog management

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Master's degree (optional)

Tools

Java

Python

React

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP). L-CAP is a mission-critical, future-ready automation platform built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture, enabling next-generation air traffic management capabilities. This role operates within a SAFe/Agile framework as part of an Agile Release Train (ART) delivering iterative value across the program. In this position, you will serve as the Product Owner for a development team in an Agile/SAFe environment, owning the team backlog and assisting in the design and implementation of software solutions alongside your team while working with program architects, customer stakeholders, Product Management, and DevSecOps teams. You will translate platform and mission capability needs into testable, prioritized work that the team can deliver predictably in a highly regulated, safety-critical environment.

This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home, if you are located within a commutable distance (Less than 1 hour's drive one-way during normal traffic) from Gaithersburg, MD; Eagan, MN; or Egg Harbor Township, NJ. However, if you do not reside within a commutable distance, you may be considered for a 100% remote role. This role focuses on building and modernizing real-time, safety-critical systems using a combination of traditional systems engineering and AI-augmented software development practices. You’ll work on software that directly supports national air traffic operations, applying AI tools to accelerate development, improve quality, and enhance system reliability.

Primary Responsibilities

• Own and prioritize the backlog for one or more Agile teams, sequencing work based on stakeholder needs, program priorities, and dependencies, and ensuring the development team builds the right functionality
• Review program requirement documents, system specifications, and applicable FAA standards and orders to extract intent, constraints, and acceptance criteria
• Decompose high-level platform and mission capability needs into specific, testable capability statements (Agile features and stories) with clear acceptance criteria
• Maintain traceability from source requirements through features, stories, and verification evidence, ensuring compliance outcomes are demonstrable
• Engage customer stakeholders to identify use cases with an emphasis on completeness, testability, alignment with operational workflows, and readiness for validation and field activities
• Define team PI objectives, participate in PI planning and backlog refinement, make timely scope decisions, and accept completed work
• Systematically capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade-offs, compliance rationales, and risk assessments with each release, enabling reviewers to trace decision-making and provide informed feedback
• Prepare and review technical documentation, including use cases, user interface specifications, and interface definitions
• Coordinate with the Release Train Engineer, Product Management, systems engineering, and Test and Evaluation to manage dependencies and align delivery with integration and verification milestones
• Lead and participate in structured reviews and inspections

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline with 8+ years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience. (Equivalent experience may be used in lieu of degree)
• Experience and familiarity with Agile methodology, principles, and tools
• Experience in the role of 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
• Demonstrated ability to decompose complex requirements into testable work items with clear, verifiable acceptance criteria
• Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes, including attention to detail
• Past practical exposure to writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining software or scripts
• Experience with the design of cloud-based systems
• Experience in engaging customers to understand needs, deliver solutions, manage expectations, and maintain an ongoing relationship
• Experience working within a Scaled Agile (SAFe) organization, including PI planning and cross-team coordination
• Clear and effective verbal and written communication
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust U.S. citizenship required
• Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of and experience with AI-assisted development workflows and tools (Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
• Experience with Java, Python, React, and scripting languages
• SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM) certification
• Knowledge of and experience with DevSecOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
• Knowledge of hybrid cloud data mesh architectures and microservices platforms
• Familiarity with MBSE concepts and systems engineering integration
• Knowledge of air traffic control systems, air traffic management, general aviation, and/or flight services
• Practical knowledge of FAA/DoD systems, technical policies, standards, and orders
• Knowledge of FedRAMP, FISMA, or government security compliance frameworks
• Experience supporting verification and validation of safety-critical systems
• Track record of successful delivery on large government programs

Desired but not required: Commutable distance to Gaithersburg, MD; Eagan, MN; or Egg Harbor Township, NJ.

Why Leidos?

You’ll work on systems where performance, precision, and reliability matter — every second. This is not experimental AI for prototypes. This is disciplined, responsible AI applied to mission-critical software that supports national infrastructure. If you’re excited by solving complex problems in regulated, real-world environments — and using AI as a force multiplier rather than a shortcut — we’d like to talk. ATMC 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 that disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We’re already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Company Overview

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 Range

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.

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.