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Principal Software Engineer

Leidos


Job Location:

Laurel, MD - USA

Monthly Salary: $ 154050 - 278475
Posted: 28 August 2026 (5 hours ago)
Application Deadline: 25 November 2026
Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

About Leidos

Leidos is a FORTUNE 500 company bringing a mix of innovative technology and sector expertise to customers in the national security engineering and health industries. We deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers success. Guided by our Mission Vision and Values Leidos empowers its teams contributes to its communities and operates sustainablyalways with a commitment to doing the right thing for our customers our people and our community. The Leidos Intel Sector combines technology-enabled services and mission software capabilities in the areas of cyber logistics security operations and decision analytics to support Intelligence Community customers as they address evolving national security challenges.

About the Opportunity

Leidos is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to provide advanced software engineering and technical leadership for complex mission software systems. You will develop maintain integrate and enhance software while helping establish the technical approaches development processes and quality standards used across software-development efforts. At this level you will serve as a technical lead across multiple software-development teams coordinate closely with customers and systems engineering evaluate new technologies and processes and help ensure developed and modified software meets demanding functional performance interface and operational requirements.

Depending on assignment the technical environment may emphasize Linux and Splunk platforms cloud and distributed data technologies full-stack application development Python/C development or Linux-based mission data-processing systems.

Why This Role Matters

Complex mission software requires more than strong individual development skills. It requires experienced technical leadership capable of making sound engineering decisions across teams while maintaining quality performance integration and mission alignment. As a Principal Software Engineer you will apply deep technical expertise while helping guide how software is designed developed tested integrated and delivered across complex engineering efforts.

What Youll Do

Advanced Software Design & Development

  • Analyze user requirements to derive software design and performance requirements.

  • Design and code new software and modify existing software to add capabilities.

  • Debug software correct defects adapt applications to new hardware and improve performance.

  • Develop and implement algorithms that meet or exceed system functional and performance standards.

  • Design or implement complex algorithms subject to strict timing system-resource or interface constraints.

  • Design develop and modify software systems using scientific analysis and mathematical models to evaluate design outcomes and consequences.

Integration Data & Systems Engineering

  • Integrate existing software into new or modified systems and operating environments.

  • Develop data queries for existing or proposed databases and data repositories.

  • Design and implement complex database and data-repository interfaces and queries.

  • Develop software solutions by analyzing system performance standards system flows data usage work processes and technical problem areas.

  • Confer with systems engineers and hardware engineers to derive software requirements and understand project limitations capabilities performance requirements and interfaces.

  • Contribute to system-design decisions involving hardware/software tradeoffs software reuse COTS/GOTS alternatives and requirements allocation.

  • Coordinate software-system installation and monitor equipment functioning to ensure operational specifications are met.

Testing Quality & Engineering Practices

  • Review and test software components for adherence to design requirements and document test results.

  • Develop and execute test procedures for software components.

  • Resolve software problem reports.

  • Perform quality control on team products and ensure quality control of developed and modified software.

  • Write and review software and system documentation.

  • Recommend and implement improvements to documentation and software-development process standards.

  • Apply software-development and design methodologies appropriate to the development environment.

Technical Leadership & Engineering Direction

  • Serve as technical lead for multiple software-development teams.

  • Oversee software-development teams and ensure work is completed within the constraints of the development process being used.

  • Recommend new technologies and processes for complex software projects.

  • Select the software-development process in coordination with the customer and systems engineering.

  • Delegate programming and testing responsibilities to one or more teams and monitor team performance.

  • Provide technical leadership appropriate to the software-development process and project environment.

  • Coordinate engineering activities with customers users systems engineers hardware engineers and other technical stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

Clearance

  • TS/SCI with Polygraph upon Application to be considered for this position.

Education & Experience

  • Minimum of twenty (20) years of experience as a Software Engineer supporting programs or contracts of similar scope type and complexity.

  • Bachelors degree in Computer Science or a related discipline from an accredited college or university.

  • Four (4) additional years of Software Engineering experience on projects using similar software processes may be substituted for the bachelors degree.

Assignment-Specific Technical Requirements

Technical requirements vary by assignment. Candidates are not expected to meet the requirements of every project profile below; they should meet the requirements associated with the specific project for which they are being considered.

Project 1 Linux Splunk & Platform Automation

Required

  • 4 years of experience with databases Ansible JSON JavaScript and Bash scripting.

  • 2 years of experience with Splunk.

  • 15 years of experience with Linux.

  • Experience providing system/server support including operating system and application installation configuration administration and troubleshooting.

Desired

  • Working knowledge of project data-flow technologies including Niagrafiles low-latency message transport smart-collection systems site-specific distribution management and relevant protocols.

  • Working knowledge of Puppet.

  • Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).

Project 2 Cloud Splunk & Distributed Data Systems

Required

  • 4 years of experience with cloud technologies and Docker containerization.

  • 5 years of experience with RESTful APIs and web services.

  • 9 years of experience with Python databases JSON Bash/Shell scripting Java XML Scala and Pig.

  • 10 years of experience with Splunk.

  • Experience with Hadoop Spark or similar technologies.

  • 10 years of experience with Linux.

Project 3 Full-Stack Application Development

Required

  • 1 years of experience designing and developing RESTful applications.

  • 1 years of experience with MySQL databases.

  • 1 years of relevant UI/UX design experience.

  • 5 years of relevant Java or JavaScript experience.

  • Ability to create and deploy applications to a web server.

  • 6 years of programming experience on Linux platforms.

  • 6 years of experience with test-driven development.

  • 7 years of experience using version-control applications such as Git or Subversion (SVN).

  • Familiarity with network protocols hardware virtualization security architectures and firewall technologies.

Desired

  • Familiarity with Docker and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD).

  • Familiarity with Atlassian tools such as JIRA and Confluence.

Project 4 Python/C Development

Required

  • 4 years of experience with Python and C.

  • 10 years of relevant software-development experience in Linux environments.

Desired

  • Familiarity with Perl.

Project 5 Linux Mission Data-Processing Systems

Required

  • 4 years of experience with databases JSON JavaScript Python and Bash scripting.

  • 10 years of relevant software-development experience.

  • 15 years of experience with Linux.

  • Experience providing system/server support including operating system and application installation configuration administration and troubleshooting.

  • Familiarity with network protocols hardware virtualization security architectures and firewall technologies.

Desired

  • Working knowledge of data-processing systems supporting areas such as internet and voice traffic analysis telephony processing digital network intelligence and data management.

  • Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).

If youre looking for comfort keep scrolling. At Leidos we outthink outbuild and outpace the status quo because the mission demands it. Were not hiring followers. Were recruiting the ones who disrupt provoke and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. Were already at step 30 and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:
August 26 2026

For 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.

Pay Range:
Pay Range $154050.00 - $278475.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand 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.


Required Experience:

Staff IC


About Company

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Leidos is an innovation company rapidly addressing the world's most vexing challenges in national security and health. Our 47,000 employees collaborate to create smarter technology solutions for customers in these critical markets.

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