Principal AI Software Developer

Leidos is hiring a Principal AI Software Developer to build AI-enabled microservices for the Air Traffic Business Area in a regulated, safety-critical environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain microservices-based applications using modern software engineering best practices
• Partner with product owners, architects, and engineers in an Agile/SAFe environment
• Participate in sprint planning, daily standups, reviews, and retrospectives
• Collaborate with systems engineering and program teams to translate requirements into working software
• Build clean, maintainable, and testable code using CI/CD and DevSecOps practices
• Contribute to system design discussions and technical decision-making
• Integrate services with databases, messaging systems, and external APIs
• Support troubleshooting, performance tuning, and continuous improvement
• Work with QA, DevOps, and platform teams to help ensure reliable delivery
• Implement automated testing approaches, including unit, integration, contract, and end-to-end testing
• Use AI-assisted development tools to accelerate coding, refactoring, debugging, and test creation

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent experience)
• 12+ years of relevant experience, or a Master’s Degree plus 10+ years of relevant experience
• Hands-on experience building and supporting microservices-based systems
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Java, Python, C++) on a Linux-based system
• Experience or exposure to AI/ML-enabled systems (including Claude-Code), automation, or intelligent platforms
• Experience working in Agile environments
• Understanding of APIs and distributed system concepts
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust
• U.S. citizenship required
• Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer

Technologies

• Java, Python, C++, Linux
• Claude-Code
• Git-based version control
• CI/CD, DevSecOps
• Agile, SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
• Kafka
• AWS, Azure, GCP
• Docker, Kubernetes
• Relational databases, NoSQL databases
• Messaging systems, external APIs
• Unit testing, integration testing, contract testing, end-to-end testing

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid Leave
• Retirement

Hybrid Work Location

• Hybrid role requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home
• Onsite commutable distance requirement (less than 1 hour drive one-way during normal traffic) from:
  • Gaithersburg, MD
  • Eagan, MN
  • Egg Harbor Township, NJ
• If not within commutable distance, candidates may be considered for a 100% remote role

Preferred / Desired Qualifications

• Experience with Git-based version control and CI/CD pipelines
• Familiarity with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Experience working with relational and/or NoSQL databases
• Hands-on experience with Kafka or other event-streaming technologies
• Cloud experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
• Containerization and orchestration experience (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience working in DevSecOps environments
• Experience with test automation frameworks and integrating automated test suites into CI/CD pipelines
• Desired but not required: commutable distance to Gaithersburg, MD or Egg Harbor Township, NJ

Pay Range

USD 131,300 - 237,350 per year.

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary.

Posting date: September 25, 2026