Lead AI Software Developer

Leidos is seeking a Lead AI Software Developer to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Leidos Common Baseline. Common Baseline is a mission-critical, future-ready automation solution built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture. As a member of a Scaled Agile software development organization, you will contribute to the technical execution of a program that integrates proven, globally deployed technologies with modern cloud-native and AI-enabled capabilities.

You will work alongside cross-functional teams and technical leaders to deliver predictable outcomes in a highly regulated, safety-critical environment.

In this position, you will design and implement software solutions independently while working closely with systems engineering, product delivery, and Dev Sec Ops  teams. The primary focus is on developing microservices-based applications within an Agile/SAFe environment.

Experience with AI-enabled or data-driven systems is advantageous. This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust investigation

This position is located in 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.

This role focuses on building and modernizing real-time, safety-critical systems using a combination of traditional systems engineering and AI-augmented software development practices. You'll work on software that directly supports national air traffic operations, applying AI tools to accelerate development, improve quality, and enhance system reliability.

What You'll Do

* Design, develop, and maintain microservices-based applications using modern software engineering best practices

* Collaborate with product owners, architects, and engineers in an Agile/SAFe environment

* Participate in sprint planning, daily standups, reviews, and retrospectives

* Collaborate with systems engineering and program teams to translate requirements into working software solutions

* Develop clean, maintainable, and testable code following CI/CD and Dev Sec Ops  practices

* Contribute to system design discussions and technical decision-making

* Integrate services with databases, messaging systems, and external APIs

* Support troubleshooting, performance tuning, and continuous improvement

* Work closely with QA, Dev Ops, and platform teams to ensure reliable delivery

* Implement modern automated testing strategies, including unit, integration, contract, and end-to-end testing

* Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, refactoring, debugging, and test creation

Core Technical

Qualifications:

* Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience)

* 4+ years of relevant experience or a Master's Degree and 2+ years of relevant experience

* Hands-on experience building and supporting microservices-based systems

* Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Java, Python, C++, or similar on a Linux-based system)

* Experience or exposure to AI/ML-enabled systems (Claude-Code), automation, or intelligent platforms.

* Experience working in Agile environments

* Understanding of APIs and distributed system concepts

* Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust

* U.S. citizenship required

* Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer

Preferred / Desired Qualifications

* Experience with Git-based version control and CI/CD pipelines

* Familiarity with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

* Experience working with relational and/or No

SQL databases

* Hands-on experience with Kafka or other event-streaming technologies

* Cloud experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)

* Containerization and orchestration experience (Docker, Kubernetes)

* Experience working in Dev Sec Ops  environments

* Experience with test automation frameworks and integration of automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines

Why Leidos?

You'll work on systems where performance, precision, and reliability matter - every…