Principal Software Engineer — Enablement

This is not a maintenance role. This is a reinvention role.

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer who doesn’t just build systems—but reshapes how they are conceived, delivered, and trusted. Someone who pairs deep technical credibility with architectural vision, and who has the conviction to challenge legacy approaches when the mission demands more.

Leidos is seeking a Principal Software Architect to be a technical software lead for the Enablement Team of the Leidos SW Accelerator. The Enablement Team will manage a portfolio of short-term, rapidly evolving projects with a focus on significant improvement in the speed and quality of software development outcomes. This individual will be responsible for bringing the latest Leidos processes and tools to teams seeking its help. This will generally require the widespread adoption of AI assistance throughout the software development lifecycle, evolution to the latest software design and architectural patterns, and a relentless drive for automation and improvement. Successful candidates will have experience working on complex software implementations that are part of large-scale hardware/software systems and have demonstrated an ability to incorporate and teach the use of cutting-edge tools and techniques. Candidates should be comfortable working in Agile environments, including at scale, and have experience working through team and technology change resistance.

Experience with software development programs supporting national security customers in a classified and other highly restricted settings is required. The successful candidate will have a wide range of technical experience including mission software development, secure software practices, software architecture, DevOps, cloud technologies, and software validation. This position requires a technical leader who is ready to roll up their sleeves to solve hard, interesting problems. 

This is a role for builders who bias toward action, who believe disruption can coexist with rigor, and who want to apply cutting-edge AI to the problems that matter most.

Why This Role Matters

We are here to radically remake software systems that underpin the country’s most critical missions—aviation, healthcare, energy, and other safety-critical domains where failure is not an option. We are bringing transformation not to trivial demos or disposable apps, but to the hardest, highest-stakes systems:

• Systems with extreme safety, security, and resilience requirements
• Systems constrained by regulation, legacy architecture, and operational risk
• Systems where speed to outcome must increase without compromising trust
• Our ambition is simple and audacious: move faster than ever before, while raising the bar on safety and reliability.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee technical software activities within the SW Enablement team portfolio in collaboration with the Enablement Lead and the Chief Solution Architect for Enablement
• Lead the conduction of validation of new SW Accelerator practices and tools with real program teams and business development activities to ensure that Leidos internal development projects are aligned to real world scenarios
• Coach teams in the adoption of new practices and help Leidos developers cope with rapid changes in day to day activities
• Become an advocate for safe and humane use of AI and modern development practice throughout Leidos
• Collaborate intensely with other professionals within Leidos Software, Cyber, and AI Accelerators who are developing new tools and technology to ensure that they get valuable feedback on how those tools perform

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree or Ph.D. and 15+ years of experience in a Science, Engineering, or Technology field - Will consider experience in lieu of the degree requirements.
• Experience within the past 4 years as the software technical lead or software architect for a large-scale systems development effort
• Demonstrated experience with multiple AI tools across the entire software development lifecycle
• Experience designing, building, and operating DevOps pipelines in both cloud and on-prem environments with modern tooling
• Experience collecting and analyzing software productivity metrics
• Ability to gain a security clearance for a position of trust within the US government.
• Experience within the National Security domain (Intelligence Community, Homeland Security, or Department of Defense) with an understanding of those missions and operating environments.
• Ability to mentor, lead, and promote talent.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.
• Location: Washington Metropolitan Area with ability to travel to customer sites across the region

Preferred Qualifications

• Scaled Agile Development experience.
• Member of the Leidos Solution Architect program

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:

January 29, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $154,050.00 - $278,475.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.