Test and Evaluation Lead

The Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector is seeking a Test and Evaluation (T&E) Lead to define the strategy and lead execution of the test mission for 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 for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As part of a large-scale Scaled Agile (SAFe) software development organization, you will lead the establishment of T&E processes, strategy, planning, execution, and reporting across the program.

The successful candidate will be responsible for transforming how testing and mission validation are performed on a large-scale, safety-critical system
. This role will establish the vision, strategy, tools, automation framework, and organizational approach for validating a continuously evolving platform operating within a highly regulated environment.

The ideal candidate combines deep systems-level testing expertise with experience applying modern quality engineering practices, automation, digital engineering, simulation, and data-driven validation techniques to complex mission-critical systems.

This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust investigation.

This position is located in either Gaithersburg, MD or Egg Harbor Township, NJ
. This is an opportunity to contribute to projects that impact millions of air travelers.

This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home.

• Define and implement a modern Quality Engineering strategy focused on automation, continuous testing, system monitoring, simulation, and risk-based test planning
• Establish AI-assisted and model-based testing methods to improve test coverage, accelerate testing, and identify defects earlier
• Lead the development of test environments, simulation capabilities, synthetic test data, and digital system models to support validation before deployment
• Develop methods for validating systems in real-world operations using production data, system monitoring, operational replay, and performance analysis
• Promote early and continuous quality practices across systems engineering, software development, cybersecurity, and operations teams
• Establish automated testing pipelines that support continuous integration and continuous software delivery
• Develop resilience testing approaches that verify system behavior during failures, recovery events, degraded operations, and unexpected conditions
• Define quality metrics that measure operational performance, mission success, system reliability, and user experience rather than simply counting completed tests
• Evaluate the use of AI and machine learning to improve test creation, defect prediction, anomaly detection, and system validation
• Lead the development and execution of the T&E strategy for L-CAP, encompassing developmental testing (DT), operational testing (OT), and integrated testing
• Develop and maintain the Test and Evaluation Master Plan (TEMP), test procedures, and associated documentation in alignment with FAA and DoD T&E standards
• Lead a multidisciplinary T&E team, including test engineers, analysts, and lab/field test personnel
• Establish verification and validation (V&V) frameworks that ensure system safety, performance, and compliance with FAA requirements
• Plan and execute test events across lab, simulation, and operational environments
• Interface with FAA stakeholders, providing test status, risk assessments, and readiness recommendations
• Ensure compliance with safety-critical system testing standards, including DO-278A and applicable FAA orders
• Lead test readiness reviews (TRRs), test incident resolution, and lessons-learned processes

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 12+ years of experience in test and evaluation for complex systems
• Demonstrated experience performing T&E on large-scale, safety-critical systems
• Strong knowledge of T&E planning and execution methodologies…