Software Engineer SME

Shape the Technology Behind Critical National Security Missions

What if your technical expertise could influence not just an application, but the technology strategy behind a mission that matters? Leidos is seeking a proficient Software Engineer Subject Matter Expert (SME) to join the Chinook Program supporting an Intelligence Community customer and an application supporting important national security objectives.

As a Software Engineer SME, you’ll have the opportunity to shape architecture, drive modernization, solve the most complex engineering challenges, and establish the technical direction for critical capabilities. You’ll work alongside exceptional engineers, architects, program leaders, and mission stakeholders while remaining close to technology and solving problems that demand deep technical expertise.

The Software Engineer SME provides the highest level of technical expertise within the software engineering organization. The SME serves as a technical authority, architect-level contributor, mentor, and problem solver for complex engineering challenges.

The SME is expected to influence technical direction across teams and capabilities while remaining capable of directly designing, developing, reviewing, troubleshooting, and improving software.

Position may be performed in the following locations below.

• Tucson, AZ

• Gaithersburg, MD

• Alexandria, VA

• Chantilly, VA

• Englewood, CO

• St. Louis, MO

Clearance Level Required:

Active Top Secret/SCI with the ability to successfully pass a Polygraph examination.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serve as a technical leader and Scrum Master for one or more Agile software development teams, facilitating Scrum ceremonies, removing delivery impediments, and promoting consistent Agile execution.

• Coach and mentor engineering teams on Agile principles, Scrum practices, and continuous improvement while maintaining a strong focus on technical excellence and mission delivery.

• Collaborate with Product Owners, technical leads, and program leadership to align sprint objectives, technical priorities, and software delivery milestones with customer mission requirements.

• Identify and address cross-team dependencies, technical blockers, and delivery risks that could impact sprint commitments or program objectives.

• Champion Agile engineering practices including continuous integration, automated testing, DevSecOps, and incremental delivery of working software.

• Provide technical leadership across the full software development lifecycle.

• Define and influence application architecture, technical strategy, and modernization initiatives.

• Lead resolution of the most complex software engineering and integration problems.

• Design highly scalable, secure, resilient, and maintainable software architectures.

• Establish software engineering standards, patterns, and best practices.

• Lead architecture and technical design reviews.

• Evaluate competing technical approaches and make recommendations based on mission value, risk, cost, and feasibility.

• Guide development of APIs, microservices, data services, integrations, and distributed systems.

• Provide expertise in cloud-native and containerized architecture.

• Lead efforts to improve system performance, scalability, availability, resiliency, and security.

• Provide technical oversight of CI/CD and DevSecOps implementation.

• Identify and manage technical debt and long-term engineering risks.

• Develop solutions to complex production and operational problems.

• Provide technical direction and mentorship to junior, mid, and senior engineers.

• Establish and promote effective code review and engineering quality practices.

• Partner with Test Engineering to establish effective automated testing and quality strategies.

• Collaborate with systems engineering, security, DevSecOps, program leadership, and customer stakeholders.

• Translate complex technical issues into clear recommendations for technical and program leadership.

• Evaluate emerging technologies and determine their applicability to the mission.

• Influence engineering roadmaps and modernization strategies.

• Support technical planning across Agile Program Increments.

• Represent the software engineering organization in major technical working groups and customer discussions.

• Help establish a culture of technical excellence, engineering discipline, and continuous improvement.

Basic Qualifications:

• US citizenship is required per contract.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field and 12-15 years of prior relevant experience or Master’s with 10-14 years of prior relevant experience. May possess a Doctorate in technical domain.

• Demonstrated expertise in software engineering, architecture, and application development.

• Demonstrated experience serving as a Scrum Master, Agile team lead, or technical leader responsible for coordinating software development activities within an Agile environment.

• Strong understanding of Scrum principles, Agile software delivery frameworks, backlog management, sprint execution, and continuous improvement practices.

• Experience facilitating collaboration among multidisciplinary engineering teams, Product Owners, and customer stakeholders to deliver complex software solutions.

• Expert-level knowledge with the following technologies:

o Web: HTML, CSS, JSON, Ajax, and REST APIs

o Object-oriented Programming: Python, Java, or JavaScript

o Front-end and Back-end Frameworks: React, Angular, Vue.js, jQuery, Spring Boot, Django, Node.js, Flask, or Svelte

o Cloud Development: AWS, Azure, or similar cloud platforms

o Relational Database: MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server

o Operating System: Windows, Linux

o Version Control System: Git

• Extensive experience designing and implementing complex software systems.

• Extensive experience with APIs, distributed systems, databases, and system integrations.

• Extensive experience with cloud, DevSecOps, CI/CD, and containerized environments.

• Demonstrated experience solving highly complex technical problems.

• Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership across engineering teams.

• Experience working in Agile/Scrum and/or SAFe environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting Intelligence Community (IC) mission systems.

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM II), SAFe Scrum Master (SSM), or equivalent Agile certification.

• Experience serving as a Scrum Master or Agile technical lead on large-scale, mission-critical software development programs supporting the Intelligence Community or Department of Defense.

• Experience coaching Agile teams, resolving complex delivery impediments, and improving team effectiveness through actionable metrics and retrospective outcomes.

• Experience coordinating multiple Agile teams, managing technical dependencies, and supporting Agile delivery within a broader program or scaled Agile environment.

• Experience with GEOINT, geospatial, intelligence, or other mission-specific data standards and workflows.

• Expert-level AWS and cloud-native architecture experience.

• Experience with C2S/GovCloud or other classified cloud environments.

• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes.

• Experience with Terraform and CloudFormation.

• Experience with GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins, SonarQube, Nexus, Vault, and Keycloak.

• Experience with PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, OpenSearch/Elasticsearch, or comparable data platforms.

• Experience with event-driven and distributed architectures.

• Experience with observability, monitoring, logging, and performance engineering.

• SAFe experience and/or relevant Agile certifications.

• Experience leading technical modernization or application transformation initiatives.

#Chinook

#NSBA

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:

October 15, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

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.