Lead Software Engineer – Computer Vision & Automation (Transportation) 

Are you interested in improving and shaping the transportation industry with a group of intelligent and motivated individuals?  Consider joining the Leidos team operating the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)’s Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL), a USDOT research lab focused on the improvement of transportation operations, safety, mobility, and environmental impacts.  STOL champions the integration of emerging technologies such as cooperative driving automation (CDA) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) to revolutionize transportation. 

Learn about STOL here: https://highways.dot.gov/turner-fairbank-highway-research-center/labs/STOL  

Location: This role will be expected to work full-time at the customer site in McLean, VA. 

Leidos is seeking a Lead Software Engineer – Computer Vision & Automation (Transportation) to join a highly successful team in researching and developing Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) technologies to shape the future of transportation. We are looking for someone who is motivated by variety, thrives in a challenging environment, seeks professional growth, and will be a key part of a team developing and extending a variety of applications and components to improve results that impact the transportation industry. 

The successful candidate will work with external organizations – including state and local Departments of Transportation (DOTs) – to identify how computer vision technologies can improve transportation safety and operations and to create business development opportunities in these areas. As new projects are created through these strategic partnerships, the successful candidate will lead these computer vision projects, which will aim to support and optimize the use of advanced transportation technologies such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS), CDA, C-V2X, CAV and AI-driven predictive modeling. 

Primary Responsibilities: 

• Lead delivery of software and system components that incorporate object recognition and automation for transportation applications, ensuring solutions meet both technical requirements and compliance standards. 
•  Serve as a technical lead on medium-to-large, complex projects in partnership with state and local Departments of Transportation (DOTs), providing oversight on design, development, and delivery. 
• Support business development, including proposal writing and client engagement. 
•  Break down program and project-level requirements into actionable engineering tasks, supporting efficient execution by the development team. 
•  Collaborate with program managers, contracting officers, and agency stakeholders to align technical solutions with mission objectives and regulatory frameworks. 
•  Develop and maintain documentation, reporting artifacts, and deliverables required by contract and oversight authorities. 
•  Mentor engineers in applying advanced technologies, automation practices, and secure development principles to government solutions. 
•  Provide accurate cost, schedule, and performance estimates for development tasks. 

 
Required Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree with 5+ years of relevant experience; OR Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of relevant experience. 
• 5+ years of experience with object recognition and automation in the transportation/automotive domain, including applied use in prototype and/or production systems with at least one of the following types of sensors: camera, lidar, and/or radar. 
• Hands-on expertise with programming languages such as Python, Java, or C++. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with ability to collaborate across diverse teams. 
• Experience with at least one relational database management system (Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, etc.). 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, research-oriented environment with travel up to 10% for stakeholder engagement, testing, and site visits. 
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance (which includes three years of immediate residency in the US).   

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship. 
 
Preferred Qualifications: 

• Proven experience in business development, including identifying new market opportunities, building strategic partnerships, and driving portfolio/revenue growth. 
• Designing, training, and deploying computer vision models (e.g., YOLO, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Core ML, or OpenCV) for detection, classification, and tracking in real-world environments. 
•  Implementing automation pipelines that integrate recognition systems into business or agency workflows, improving efficiency and accuracy. 
•  Developing and optimizing algorithms for real-time recognition tasks across varied conditions (e.g., lighting, environmental, and sensor constraints). 
•  Integrating recognition systems into larger enterprise or agency platforms, including dashboards, analytics tools, and decision support systems. 
•  Working knowledge of Agile methodologies and development tools such as Jira, Bitbucket, and Confluence; Scrum Master certification is a plus. 
•  Experience delivering complete systems or applications, preferably for state and local DOTs, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and/or USDOT ITS Joint Program Office. 
•  Self-motivated with a demonstrated ability to explore new tools, frameworks, and techniques.  

Anticipated salary range for this role is $95,000-$130,000 

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:

December 1, 2025

Pay Range:

Pay Range $85,150.00 - $153,925.00

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.