Are you interested in improving and shaping the transportation industry in a group of intelligent and motivated individuals?  Consider joining the Leidos team operating FHWA’s Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL), a USDOT research lab focused on the improvement of transportation operations, safety, mobility, and environmental impacts.  STOL provides a variety of services to boost the advancement and adoption of emerging technologies, including automation and communication in vehicles and on the roadside.   

Learn about STOL here: https://highways.dot.gov/research/laboratories/saxton-transportation-operations-laboratory/saxton-transportation-operations-laboratory-overview   

To promote these goals, Leidos is seeking a Systems Engineer for Testing and Evaluation who is motivated by variety, thrives in a challenging environment, seeks professional growth, and will be a key part of a team developing, testing, and extending a variety of applications and components in support of transportation research.  This person will play a role in testing and evaluating technologies to advance the future of transportation.   

In this role, you will work with: 

• Connected Automated Vehicles (CAV) and infrastructure.
• Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Systems applications, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-pedestrian, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication hardware and software systems. Learn more about CDA here: https://highways.dot.gov/research/operations/CARMA
• Micro-traffic and physics-based simulations of vehicles, pedestrians, and transportation infrastructure.
• Traffic optimization and intelligent transportation systems. 

The successful candidate will work closely with fellow engineers, software developers, test engineers and managers to comprehend the concept of operations and requirements; identify testing and evaluation needs; develop and execute test plans; and install, evaluate, and manage applications and communications hardware. The candidate should enjoy working in a lab environment and in real-world, hands-on settings developing and testing new solutions, tools, and opportunities to advance the state of technology and promote adoption. The Systems Engineer will be part of a dynamic research team that advances connected and automated vehicle technologies for FHWA.   

Primary Duties:  

• Work with project teams, customers, and external stakeholders to lead the testing process through the full project lifecycle from concept of operations to test plan development to test execution.  
• Lead simulation and field testing of automated vehicles and connected infrastructure involving internal and external teams. 
• Investigate, develop, and test emerging transportation hardware and software.
• Develop functional requirements and performance metrics based on the test objectives and use case goals.   
• Support planning, estimation, scheduling, and resource management of test campaigns.
• Perform integration, verification, validation, and/or regression testing.
• Develop simulation and distributed testing solutions.
• Design and implement virtualization and containerization solutions.
• Collect, analyze, and evaluate test data against specifications and performance expectations.  
• Coordinate with internal and external development teams to identify, comprehend, and resolve technical issues, goals, and challenges. 
• Lead day-to-day activities of the test team that consists of hardware engineers, software engineers, and technicians.   
• Work on-site and travel to test sites within the United States to sponsor occasional test events (15% on average). 

Basic Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Engineering, Electrical, Computer Science, Mechanical, Engineering or closely related field.
• 2+ years of experience developing comprehensive test plans, scenarios, and performance metrics.
• 2+ years of experience working in a lab and/or test environment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance (which includes three years of immediate residency in the US). 
• Strong understanding of the engineering process and quality assurance best practices.

• Experience with deploying and configuring Linux and Windows operating systems. 
• Experience with virtualization and containerization software.
• Experience testing and evaluating software written in C++ and/or Python in a Linux environment.
• Experience in scripting with Python, Bash, and SQL.
• Familiarity and/or experience using automated test tools on software projects.
• Experience with hardware/software-in-the-loop test development.
• Experience with Agile Scrum methodology using toolsets such as Jira and Confluence.
• Self-motivated with ability to self-teach.
• Interest in hands-on work with hardware and software. 
• Strong communication with internal and external teams.
• Hold a valid driver’s license in the US and have a good driving record. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Knowledge of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), V2X messaging, simulation, CDA, and CAV’s
• Comprehension of connected and/or automated vehicle operations. 
• Background identifying efficiencies and improvements in development and testing processes.
• Knowledge of safety best practices, especially involving full scale vehicle testing and pedestrians.
• Experience with network administration and network simulation tools (e.g. NS-3). 
• Comprehension of vehicle kinematics, dynamics, and controls, including sensors and its calibration. 
• Exposure developing with ROS, Java, C++, C#, C. 
• Familiarity with transportation simulation environments (e.g. SUMO, CARLA, etc.)
• Prior involvement deploying robotics platforms in the real world and/or in simulation. 
• Familiarity with connected vehicle and ITS standards including IEEE 1609, 3GPP Rel 14/15 PC5, SAE J2735/J2945/J3161, NTCIP 1202/1218. 
• Background with wireless standards including IEEE 802.11 & 1609, 3GPP LTE & 5G, SAE J2735 & J2945. 

• History engaging external communities and stakeholders. 

Anticipated pay range for this role: $80,000 - $100,000 

Original Posting Date:

2024-08-05

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.

Pay Range:

Pay Range $65,000.00 - $117,500.00

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.