Lead AI Software Developer

Lead AI Software Developer – Air Traffic Business Area

Leidos is seeking a Lead AI Software Developer to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector. You will support the development of the Leidos Common Baseline, a mission‑critical, future‑ready automation solution built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture. In 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.

This position is located in Gaithersburg, MD or Egg Harbor Township, NJ. It is a hybrid role requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home. The role focuses on building and modernizing real‑time, safety‑critical systems using a combination of traditional systems engineering and AI‑augmented software development practices.

• 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 stand‑ups, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Translate requirements with systems engineering and program teams into workable software solutions.
• Produce clean, maintainable, testable code following CI/CD and Dev Sec Ops  practices.
• Engage in 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.

• 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, automation, or intelligent platforms.
• Experience working in Agile environments.
• Understanding of APIs and distributed system concepts.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust investigation.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer.

• Experience with Git‑based version control and CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
• Experience 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.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.