Senior Operations Lead

Leidos National Security Sector combines technology-enabled services and mission software capabilities in the areas of cyber, logistics, security operations, and decision analytics to support our defense and intel customers’ mission to defend against evolving threats around the world. Our team’s focus is to ensure our customers have the right tools, technologies, and tactics to keep pace with an ever-evolving security landscape and succeed in their pursuit to protect people and critical assets.

The Intelligence Production Solutions Division (IPSD), part of the Decision Advantage Solutions Business Area, is currently seeking an accomplished Senior Operations Lead to oversee daily operations on the Chinook Program.

In this role, you will ensure operational continuity, efficiency, and performance all while navigating complex customer requirements and program dynamics to deliver mission-critical geospatial solutions on time, budget, and in compliance with contract requirements.

Position may be performed in the following locations below.  Please note Gaithersburg, MD is the program’s primary work location.

• Gaithersburg, MD

• Alexandria, VA
• Chantilly, VA 
• Tucson, AZ
• Denver, CO
• St Louis, MO

Active Top Secret with the ability to obtain SCI, as well as a Polygraph.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Direct end-to-end operational execution across multiple Chinook workstreams, ensuring alignment with National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) priorities.
• Lead day-to-day operational management of a large-scale task order (75+ FTEs) with geographically dispersed teams, ensuring all work aligns with scope, schedule, and deliverables.
• Function as a people manager, with responsibility for performance management, professional development, mentorship, and career path development.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, biannual performance check-ins, and professional development planning with direct reports, proactively address employee relations and morale.
• Develop and maintain operational plans, program performance metrics, dashboards, and status reporting.
• In coordination with the Release Train Engineer (RTE), apply SAFe principles to manage Agile ceremonies and support program increment planning events, backlog grooming, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Coordinate with task leads, Scrum Masters, and team members across multiple geographically dispersed agile teams to ensure timely delivery of technical outputs and services.
• Coordinate cross-functional activities across technical, engineering, contracts, and finance to meet cost, schedule, and quality targets.
• Monitor team velocity, capacity, and program-level key performance indicators; identify risks and mitigation strategies to ensure operational excellence.
• Proactively identify risks, process gaps, and dependencies, drive mitigation plans and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Oversee workforce allocation, onboarding, and cross-functional team dependencies to maximize efficiency and productivity.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for program operations, interfacing with NGA customers and internal leadership.
• Support program reviews, staffing forecasts, risk mitigation efforts, and day-to-day execution across multiple task orders.
• Lead efforts to ensure compliance with contract terms, corporate policies, and federal regulations.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives, using agile metrics and retrospective outcomes to optimize delivery practices.

Basic Qualifications:

• US citizenship is required per contract.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field and 12-15 years of prior relevant experience or Master’s with 10-13 years of prior relevant experience.
• Active Top Secret with the ability to obtain SCI, as well as a Polygraph.
• 10+ years of experience managing operations or program management experience on federal or Intelligence Community (IC) programs.
• Proven success leading multi-disciplinary teams in a high-tempo, mission driven environment.
• Experience working in SAFe or large-scale Agile environments.
• Proven ability to manage remote and geographically distributed teams.
• Strong communication, leadership, and organizational skills.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience with performance metrics, reporting tools, and operations dashboards.
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, and SharePoint.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PMP, Lean Six Sigma, ITIL or similar certification.
• SAFe certification (e.g., SAFe Agilist, SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), or RTE).
• Prior experience implementing Agile Release Trains (ARTs) or managing PI Planning events.

Come break things (in a good way). Then build them smarter.

We're the tech company everyone calls when things get weird. We don’t wear capes (they’re a safety hazard), but we do solve high-stakes problems with code, caffeine, and a healthy disregard for “how it’s always been done.”

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

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.