Principal Solution Architect, National Solutions

Description

The Intelligence Sector at Leidos has an exciting and strategic opening for a Principal Solution Architect & Innovation Lead to work in our Gaithersburg, MD or Chantilly, VA offices. This is a unique opportunity to use your deep technical expertise and leadership experience to help shape the future of end‑to‑end space and geospatial intelligence systems. We are seeking a visionary technical leader who thrives on complex challenges, takes ownership of them, and drives their success with innovative solutions that push the envelope.

If you are passionate about solving the nation's toughest global monitoring challenges and inspiring teams to deliver groundbreaking results, this role is for you.

• Technical Strategy & Innovation:
  Champion and architect innovative, next‑generation system solutions. Lead technical planning and Analysis of Alternatives for high‑consequence acquisition decisions, evaluating alternatives based on cost, risk, and supportability for the total system life cycle.
• Proposal & Business Development Leadership:
  Serve as the technical visionary and lead for high‑priority proposal efforts, including RFPs and RFIs. Shape winning strategies and solutions that align with customer needs and differentiate Leidos in the marketplace.
• Program Execution & Recovery:
  Act as a technical “first responder” to diagnose and resolve complex issues on challenged programs. Provide expert‑level diagnostics, recovery planning, and hands‑on leadership to guide teams back to success.
• Architect Next‑Gen Solutions:
  Design end‑to‑end solutions that integrate emerging technologies (Generative AI, Computer Vision, Edge Compute) into mission‑critical workflows, spanning from sensor collection to final exploitation.
• Customer Engagement & Inspiration:
  Engage directly with senior government customers, program managers, and stakeholders to understand their challenges, build trust, and inspire confidence. Translate their mission needs into actionable technical requirements and roadmaps.
• Team Leadership & Mentorship:
  Lead and mentor dynamic, multi‑disciplinary teams, often in transient settings. Foster a culture of innovation, ownership, and technical excellence, coaching other technical staff to elevate their performance.

• Modern Technical Fluency:
  While you have extensive tenure, your recent experience (last 5+ years) must demonstrate hands‑on leadership in modern architectures:
  • Cloud Native:
    Architecting solutions on AWS/Azure (Serverless, Containers/Kubernetes, Microservices)
  • Data & AI:
    Experience integrating Data Fabrics, AI/ML pipelines, or automated processing of overhead sensor data.
• Capture & Proposal
  
  Experience:
  
  Demonstrated track record of leading technical responses for federal acquisitions. Must be able to deconstruct an RFP L&M (Section L and M) and architect a compliant, winning technical solution.
• Large Development Program
  
  Experience:
  
  Proven leadership experience in technical planning, system design, and full life cycle systems engineering (requirements analysis, functional analysis, integration, verification, and validation).
• Education & Tenure: BS in Computer Science or related field with 15+ years of relevant experience (MS with 13+ years, or PhD with 10+ years)
• Clearance:
  Must possess an active TS/SCI security clearance and have ability to obtain a polygraph‑level clearance.

• Complex Solution Landscapes:
  Demonstrated experience resolving highly complex, multi‑dimensional problems that require consideration of variables impacting multiple aspects of a program.
• Gov Con & Domain Expertise:
  Deep, proven understanding of the Intelligence Community (IC) landscape, specifically space‑based architectures, ground processing, GEOINT, and TCPED missions. Must understand the constraints and requirements of classified environments.
• Excellent Writing and Communication
  
  Skills:
  
  Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with a proven ability to engage and influence senior executive leadership and customers.
• Mission Domain
  
  Experience:
  
  Direct, hands‑on experience supporting satellite ground systems, mission management, or geospatial intelligence…