Associate Chief Engineer

Leidos National Security Sector combines technology-enabled services and mission software capabilities in the areas of cyber, logistics, security operations, and decision analytics to support our defense and intel customers’ mission to defend against evolving threats around the world. Our team’s focus is to ensure our customers have the right tools, technologies, and tactics to keep pace with an ever-evolving security landscape and succeed in their pursuit to protect people and critical assets.

The Intelligence Production Solutions Division (IPSD), part of the Decision Advantage Solutions Business Area, is currently seeking a highly qualified Associate Chief Engineer (ACE) for the Chinook Program. The Chinook Program delivers mission-driven software capabilities across the geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) enterprise through secure, agile, and cloud-native development.  This position plays a key role in providing senior-level engineering support to our National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) customer office, focusing on aligning technical solutions with enterprise objective and delivering coordinated mission capabilities across the GEOINT lifecycle.

As an ACE, you will support the Chief Engineer in driving technical strategy, managing engineering integration efforts, and advising on system-level designs that enable the NGA’s dynamic and evolving mission needs.

Position may be performed in the following locations below.  Please note Gaithersburg, MD is the program’s primary work location.

• Gaithersburg, MD

• Alexandria, VA

• Chantilly, VA 

• Tucson, AZ

• Denver, CO

• St. Louis, MO

Clearance Level Required:

Top Secret with the ability to obtain SCI, as well as a Polygraph.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide direct support to the Chief Engineer in defining and managing technical vision, system architecture, and engineering strategy for a large-scale task order.

• Support program-wide engineering initiatives, including cross-task order integration, system interoperability, and modernization efforts as needed.

• Function as a people manager, with responsibility for performance management, professional development, mentorship, and career path development.

• Conduct regular 1:1s, biannual performance check-ins, and professional development planning with direct reports, proactively address employee relations and morale.

• Lead technical assessments, architecture reviews, and trade studies related to mission integration, data flow, and system interoperability.

• Collaborate with Agile teams, Release Train Engineers (RTEs), Product Owners, and Solution Architects to ensure technical consistency and alignment with enterprise goals.

• Assist in leading system design, integration, and validation efforts, ensuring solutions meet requirements for performance, security, scalability, and maintainability.

• Support technical planning and architecture reviews, ensuring all solutions conform to defined standards, customer requirements, and engineering best practices.

• Work across multiple Agile teams to support PI Planning, backlog prioritization, feature decomposition, and acceptance criteria definition.

• Engage with geographically dispersed engineering and development teams, ensuring alignment across teams and facilitating resolution of technical issues or dependencies.

• Develop and maintain enterprise engineering artifacts, including technical roadmaps, system interface documentation, and architecture diagrams (DoDAF/UAF).

• Support enterprise milestone reviews, readiness assessments, and technical baseline reviews.

• Engage across NGA directorates, programs, and external IC/DoD stakeholders to support coordinated capability delivery and technical integration.

• Facilitate and participate in Engineering Review Boards (ERBs), Configuration Control Boards (CCBs), and Technical Exchange Meetings (TEMs).

• Provide technical inputs for Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) and Program Management Reviews.

• Provide technical reviews for selecting competent staffs for the program.

• Contribute to engineering governance, technical risk identification and mitigation, and the development of architecture artifacts such as interface control documents, system design documents, and architecture diagrams.

• Provide technical mentorship to team members and participate in knowledge-sharing activities to build engineering maturity across the program.

Basic Qualifications:

• US citizenship is required per contract.

• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or other related field and 8-12 years of prior relevant experience or Master’s with 6-10 years of prior relevant experience.

• Top Secret with the ability to obtain SCI, as well as a Polygraph.

• 8+ years of experience in systems engineering, solution architecture, or technical leadership roles.

• Certifications such as INCOSE CSEP/ESEP, CISSP, Security+, or similar.

• Experience working with or supporting NGA or other IC/DoD customers in enterprise-level engineering efforts.

• Demonstrated experience supporting large-scale Agile or SAFe programs.

• Strong background in systems-of-systems engineering, architecture development, and mission thread analysis.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Ability to work with government customers and product owners to understand their needs and requirements, how they fit into the capacity and sustainment model of the program.

• NGA domain knowledge with imagery analysis, geospatial analysis, and COTS integration.

• Ability to manage complexity and priorities with multiple systems with issues and complex problems and understand priorities and customer/mission needs.

• Ability to research and solve complex problems.

• Self-starter and ability to work independently.

• Proven written and oral communications skills targeted at all levels of an organization.

• Experience in one or more areas of relevant technical focus including Cybersecurity, Technical Analysis, Software Development, Data Science and Engineering, Systems Integration, and Systems Engineering.

• Proficiency in high-level programming languages (e.g., Python, C, or C++).

• Familiarity with DevSecOps, cloud computing, and modern systems engineering tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Git).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with NGA mission operations, data architecture, and tradecraft.

• Experience supporting multiple task orders or contracts under a broader program umbrella.

• SAFe certification (e.g., SAFe Architect, SAFe Agilist, or SAFe Practitioner).

• Proficiency with digital engineering tools, MBSE platforms (e.g., Cameo) and collaboration environments (e.g., JIRA, Confluence).

• Experience with migration to Cloud (AWS).

• Experience with Systems Architecture & Design.

• Experience with operating systems such as Linux, Windows Server, or UNIX.

• Experience with server virtualization technologies such as VMware, Citrix, or Hyper-V.

• Experience supporting business development and capture activities including responding to RFIs, RFPs, and other customer acquisition requests.

Come break things (in a good way). Then build them smarter.

We're the tech company everyone calls when things get weird. We don’t wear capes (they’re a safety hazard), but we do solve high-stakes problems with code, caffeine, and a healthy disregard for “how it’s always been done.”

Original Posting:

July 29, 2025

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 $104,650.00 - $189,175.00

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.