Software Engineer (AI-Enabled Development)

UK NATS Flight Data Processing (FDP)

Leidos is seeking a Software Engineer with strong AI-assisted development experience to support the UK NATS Flight Data Processing (FDP) Evolution program. 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, test, and maintain software for real-time, high-availability systems.
• Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, refactoring, debugging, and test creation.
• Apply AI responsibly across the full SDLC, including requirements analysis, design support, implementation, testing, documentation, and code review.
• Participate in Agile ceremonies including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and release reviews.
• Analyze complex system requirements and translate them into efficient, maintainable software designs.
• Engineer and maintain automation scripts deployed across development, test, and production environments.
• Promote code reuse, software quality, and cross-team collaboration.

Required: AI-Driven Engineering Experience

We are specifically looking for engineers who actively use AI as part of their daily development workflow.

• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude Code or similar) for:
  • Code generation and refactoring
  • Debugging and test creation
  • IDE-based workflows
• Working knowledge of large language model platforms (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini).
• Experience designing and refining effective prompts and validating AI-generated outputs.
• Understanding of human-in-the-loop development, traceability, and responsible AI use.
• Ability to evaluate AI outputs for correctness, performance, bias, and safety, especially in regulated or safety-impacting environments.
• Experience incorporating AI/ML techniques into the software development process.
• Experience with test automation.

Core Technical Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field and 4 – 8 years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 2 – 6 years of prior relevant experience.
• Strong experience with object-oriented programming.
• Proficiency in C, C++, and/or Ada (Ada preferred but optional).
• Experience developing real-time, multi-threaded software.
• Familiarity with Linux (Red Hat), virtual machines, and hypervisors.
• Experience with low-level communications (TCP/IP, UDP, SCTP).
• Familiarity with hardware or CAS integration.
• Experience using source control and configuration management tools.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work independently or within a team.
• Ability to obtain an SF-85 preferred.

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:

February 9, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00

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.