Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner

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

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner to join the Air Traffic Business Area and support the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP). This hybrid role requires 3 days onsite in Gaithersburg, MD, with 2 days remote, within commutable distance from Gaithersburg, MD, or possible 100% remote for others.

You will own team backlogs, translate needs into prioritized work, and collaborate with Architects, Stakeholders, and DevSecOps teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (or higher) with 8+ years of relevant experience or Master's with 6+ years.
• Experience with Agile methodologies, principles, and tools in SAFe environments.
• Experience as Agile Product Owner including backlog ownership and scope decisions.

Responsibilities

• Own and prioritize the backlog for one or more Agile teams and sequence work by priority.
• Review requirements, system specs, FAA standards, and create acceptance criteria.
• Decompose platform needs into testable features and stories with clear acceptance criteria.

Skills

Agile/SAFe experience

Product Owner experience

Backlog management

Cloud-based systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related (8+ years)

Master's degree with 6+ years

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

DevSecOps practices

MBSE concepts

Job description

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 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.

Pay Range:

Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00

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