Principal Software DeveloperLeidos
Description
We are seeking a Principal Software Developer who will be a member of a dynamic team Air Traffic Management program - SkyLine-X™
SkyLine-X™ provides an array of advanced air traffic management capabilities to improve aircraft safety, performance, and efficiency across the world’s airspace.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Serve as a principal technical authority for software engineering across one or more programs, influencing architecture, design, and long-term technical strategy
- Lead the design and development of complex, mission-critical software systems, ensuring alignment with performance, safety, security, and scalability requirements
- Drive system-level and cross-program architectural decisions, including integration strategies and technology selection
- Define and oversee the strategic adoption of AI-assisted software development across teams and programs
- Establish enterprise- or program-level policies, guardrails, and governance for responsible AI usage, including validation standards, traceability, security, compliance, and risk management
- Evaluate the impact of AI-assisted development on safety-critical systems, ensuring that its use aligns with regulatory, operational, and mission assurance requirements
- Provide expert-level evaluation of AI-generated outputs, identifying systemic risks, failure modes, and unintended consequences at scale
- Champion the development of standardized AI-assisted workflows, reusable components, and tooling that improve productivity while maintaining engineering rigor
- Lead technical reviews, architecture reviews, and code reviews, setting and enforcing the highest standards for software quality (both human- and AI-generated)
- Mentor and develop senior and mid-level engineers, fostering technical growth and promoting best practices in both software engineering and AI-assisted development
- Collaborate with program leadership, systems engineering, cybersecurity, and other stakeholders to align software strategy with mission objectives
- Drive continuous improvement across development processes, tool chains, and engineering culture, including responsible integration of emerging AI technologies
Basic Qualifications:
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust security clearance (US Citizenship required)
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field and a minimum of 12 years of prior relevant experience, or a master’s degree and a minimum of 10 years of prior relevant experience
- Expert-level proficiency in programming languages such as C++, Python, or Qt, with extensive experience delivering and maintaining large-scale production systems
- Demonstrated experience leading software architecture and technical strategy across teams or programs
- Deep experience applying AI-assisted software development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Roo Code, or similar) and shaping their adoption in professional environments
- Expert ability to evaluate, validate, and govern AI-generated code and outputs, including identifying systemic risks, security vulnerabilities, and performance tradeoffs
- Strong understanding of software architecture, distributed systems, and system-level design tradeoffs
- Proven experience establishing engineering standards, best practices, and development processes across teams
- Ability to operate independently at a strategic level while influencing and aligning multiple stakeholders
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience defining AI governance frameworks, policies, or standards within a program or organization
- Experience working in regulated, safety-critical, or mission-critical environments (e.g., air traffic management, aviation, defense, or similar domains)
- Experience integrating AI-assisted development into secure, enterprise-grade development environments and toolchains
- Prior experience serving as a technical lead, architect, or principal engineer across large-scale systems
- Experience influencing organizational technology strategy or contributing to innovation initiatives involving AI
If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.
Original Posting:
April 1, 2026For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
