Software Engineer – AI, Autonomy & Platform Development
Overview
The Leidos Office of Technology is seeking Software Engineers with AI and autonomy experience to help build a common technology platform.
In this role, you will design, build, and operate production software for AI-driven and autonomous systems. You will work in small, accountable build-and-run teams, using modern AI-assisted development practices to ship faster and at higher quality. Your work will support national security and other critical missions where reliability, security, and human oversight matter.
Location: The ideal candidate will be based in Northern Virginia or near another Leidos facility, such as Huntsville, AL, or San Diego, CA. Onsite work at a Leidos facility is required as business needs dictate.
What You’ll Do
- Design and build AI agents and reasoning services, including LLM-based agents, planning, and inference, with human oversight, auditability, and fail-safe behavior built in.
- Develop autonomy software and integrate it with sensors, platforms, and hardware across edge and cloud environments.
- Design and develop platform software, including APIs and SDKs, data and knowledge services, and user-facing applications.
- Package components as reusable, secure, well-documented assets that others can adopt without rework.
- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and release evidence (SBOM, provenance, signing) that support secure release and deployment.
- Own what you build in production, including observability, reliability, and incident response.
- Contribute to engineering standards, reusable patterns, and technical-debt reduction across the platform.
- Collaborate with program teams and architects to turn customer needs into repeatable capabilities.
- Use AI-assisted development tools (coding assistants, agentic workflows, automated review and test generation) in daily engineering, and help teams adopt them effectively and responsibly.
- Help evaluate emerging AI, autonomy, and developer-productivity technologies, and scale what works.
Basic Qualifications
- We are hiring software engineers at all levels, from junior through senior, with opportunities tailored to individual experience and expertise in AI-enabled software development.
- At the early career level, the ideal candidate would have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, combined with 4+ years of experience. (Additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.)
- At the mid level, the ideal candidate would have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, combined with 8+ years of experience. (Additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.)
- At the senior level, the ideal candidate would have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, combined with 12+ years of experience. (Additional years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.)
- Hands-on software development experience in one or more modern languages such as Python, C++, Rust, Java, Go, or TypeScript.
- Experience (professional, academic, or personal projects) building AI/ML-enabled or autonomous systems, such as LLM agents, robotics, perception, planning, or sensor-driven software.
- Working knowledge of Git-based workflows, CI/CD, automated testing, and DevSecOps practices.
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, or comparable) and the ability to quickly adopt new tools.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in small, cross-functional teams.
- U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience building AI/ML-enabled systems, including LLM agents, agent frameworks, evaluation harnesses, or retrieval and data pipelines.
- Experience with autonomy or robotics software, including perception, planning, control, sensor fusion, simulation, ROS 2, or DDS.
- Experience with edge and embedded systems, real-time or deterministic software, Linux and real-time operating systems, or GPU/accelerator programming.
- Experience designing APIs, SDKs, or developer platforms, including extensible component architectures, developer experience, platform engineering, or software modernization.
- Experience with cloud and container technologies (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud; Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure as code.
- Familiarity with secure software supply chain practices, static analysis, and security scanning tools (e.g., SonarQube, Fortify, Checkmarx).
- Understanding of responsible AI practices for assured autonomy, including human-in-the-loop control, audit trails, and IP and data-handling considerations in AI-assisted development.
- Background supporting federal, defense, intelligence, or homeland security missions, and an active Top Secret clearance.
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 who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.
Original Posting:November 10, 2026For 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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field, or additional experience in lieu of a degree
- Early career: 4+ years of experience
- Mid level: 8+ years of experience
- Senior level: 12+ years of experience
- Hands-on software development experience in Python, C++, Rust, Java, Go, TypeScript, or another modern language
- Experience building AI/ML-enabled or autonomous systems
- Working knowledge of Git workflows, CI/CD, automated testing, and DevSecOps practices
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools
- Strong communication and cross-functional teamwork skills
- U.S. citizenship
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance
- Experience with LLM agents, agent frameworks, evaluation harnesses, retrieval, or data pipelines
- Experience with autonomy or robotics software, including perception, planning, control, sensor fusion, simulation, ROS 2, or DDS
- Experience with edge or embedded systems, real-time software, Linux, real-time operating systems, or GPU programming
- Experience designing APIs, SDKs, developer platforms, extensible architectures, or software modernization
- Experience with cloud, containers, and infrastructure as code
- Familiarity with secure software supply chain practices, static analysis, and security scanning tools
- Understanding of responsible AI practices for assured autonomy
- Federal, defense, intelligence, or homeland security mission experience
- Active Top Secret clearance
Leidos Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Leidos and has not been reviewed or approved by Leidos.
-
Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as comprehensive, with multiple plan options, low office-visit copays in some plans, and access to mental health and wellness support tools. The availability of HSA/FSA options and employer contributions is positioned as a meaningful part of the total package.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement benefits are framed as a strong component of total rewards, highlighted by a 401(k) match and immediate vesting in the standard package. The Employee Stock Purchase Plan is also presented as an additional long-term wealth-building feature.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle supports extend beyond core insurance, including wellness programs, fitness-related stipends, and assistance resources. Work flexibility and related perks are also included as part of the broader rewards experience.
Leidos Insights
What We Do
We Are Leidos For 50 years we have been tackling some of the biggest problems that face our nation and our world. OUR MISSION Through our culture of innovation and history of performance, we develop deep customer trust built on integrity and create enduring solutions that improve our world. Leidos is a science and technology solutions leader working to address some of the world’s toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and healthcare markets. The company’s 43,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $11.09 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2020. Leidos was cited for the meaningful work employees perform that is challenging, impactful, and aligned with our customers’ missions as reasons professionals want to work and stay at our company. Leidos has also been named to lists including Forbes’ Best Employers for Diversity, Forbes’ America’s Best Employers for Women, Military Times Best for Vets Employers, and Ethisphere Institute’s World's Most Ethical Companies®. Employees enjoy career enrichment opportunities available through mobility and development and experience rewarding relationships with supportive supervisors and talented colleagues and customers. Employees appreciate our flexible work environment, allowing for and encouraging a true work-life balance. Our professionals are also excited about our Employee Resource Groups, like the newly launched Collaborative Outreach with Remote and Embedded Employees (CORE), which strives to create an environment where every employee, regardless of location, feels fully engaged as a valued employee of Leidos. Your most important work is ahead.
