Transportation Engineer

Transportation Engineer at Leidos summary:

Seeking a Transportation Engineer to work at Leidos' FHWA Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory in McLean, VA, focused on research and development of CAV, V2X, ITS and traffic operations.

Responsibilities include developing, calibrating, and validating microscopic/mesoscopic traffic simulation models, analyzing large datasets, supporting signal operations and traffic management strategies, and integrating AI/ML methods (including synthetic data generation) with simulation tools.

Requires a Master’s in Transportation Engineering (or related) with hands‑on experience in VISSIM/Trans Modeler, AI/ML development, programming (e.g., Python), and eligibility for a Public Trust clearance.

Description

Are you interested in improving and shaping the transportation industry with a group of intelligent and motivated individuals? Consider joining the Leidos team operating the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)’s Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL), a USDOT research lab focused on the improvement of transportation operations, safety, mobility, and environmental impacts. STOL champions the integration of emerging technologies such as cooperative driving automation (CDA) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) to revolutionize transportation.

Location: This role will be expected to work full‑time at the customer site in McLean, VA

Learn about STOL here:
turner-fairbank-highway-research-center/labs/STOL

Candidates MUST:

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States with proof of legal status and be eligible for a Public Trust Clearance which includes three consecutive years in the United States within the last five years.

We are looking for someone who is motivated by variety, thrives in a challenging environment, seeks professional growth, and will be a key part of a team developing and extending a variety of applications and components to improve results that impact the transportation industry.

We are seeking a motivated Transportation Engineer with experience in simulation and traffic operations to join our McLean, Virginia group. The successful candidate will engage in various projects aiming to develop and optimize the use of advanced technologies (such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS), CDA, C-V2X, CAV and AI‑driven predictive modeling) to improve the safety and operation of multimodal transportation systems.

• Develop, calibrate, and validate microscopic and mesoscopic traffic simulation models.
• Apply simulation tools to assess the safety, efficiency, and environmental impacts of advanced transportation strategies, including CAV and V2X applications.
• Support research into signal operations, signal control strategies, and traffic management applications.
• Collaborate with internal and external development teams to identify, understand, and resolve technical goals and challenges.
• Contribute to the development of Concept of Operations, system requirements, and technical guidance documents for transportation applications.
• Analyze simulation outputs and large‑scale datasets to explain transportation system performance.
• Document findings through technical reports, presentations, and manuals tailored to both technical and practitioner audiences.
• Generate synthetic data using Generative AI methods (e.g., GANs or LLMs for tabular data synthesis) using available historical data and known distributions.
• Provide technical assistance to academia, government, and industry stakeholders in the use of ITS, CDA, and V2X technologies.
• Support proposal development, white papers, and technical briefings.

• Master’s degree in Transportation Engineering, or other related fields with 2+ years’ experience.
• At least 2 years of hands‑on experience with traffic simulation software such as VISSIM and/or Trans Modeler.
• Experience in signal operations and traffic control strategies, such as traffic signal timing, adaptive control, and transit priority applications.
• Demonstrated ability to calibrate and validate simulation models.
• At least 1 year of experience collaborating with…