Lead Software Engineer

Ready for your next career step? The Defense Sector at Leidos is currently seeking a Lead Software Engineer with 8+ years hands-on experience to join our dynamic Agile software teams in Omaha, Nebraska. This opportunity will provide professional growth that is singularly focused on providing world class solutions to our customers in an exciting, collaborative, and inclusive environment. You will be challenged and provided a tremendous opportunity to expand your skills in a customer-facing, fast-paced, and rewarding environment.

As a leader, you will architect, design, build, and enhance highly available and scalable systems used by customers worldwide. You will direct major deliverables of projects through all aspects of the software development lifecycle including scope and work estimation, architecture and design, coding and unit testing. Additionally, you will determine and recommend the best designs based on customer business objectives, timelines and other resource constraints.

All work will be on site in Leidos' facility in Omaha, Nebraska. We can provide relocation assistance for motivated individuals interested in relocation to the location.

Primary Responsibilities:

• All aspects of the software development lifecycle including scope and work estimation, architecture and design, coding, and automated testing within an Agile and Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery model.
• Own the delivery of an entire piece of a system or application and serve as a technical lead on medium-to-large, complex projects.
• Work closely with other engineers to develop the best technical design and approach for new product development.
• Ensure team adheres to Agile processes and software engineering best practices.
• As needed, mentor other engineers in the art of building complex, web scale systems.
• Design, develop, troubleshoot, and debug mission critical software source code using modern software development languages and tools, such as java.
• Participate in the full software development lifecycle, working within broadly defined parameters.
• Use Agile development tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket/Git to manage work and collaborate with your teams.
• Support creation and updating of all relevant documentation and specifications for design, development and testing.
• Identify potential roadblocks and develop around them.
• Plan and estimate development tasks and work to improve performance metrics.
• Develop maintainable code that implements user stories.
• Develop automated tests leveraging a continuous integration process.
• Work closely with other engineers to develop the best technical design and approach for new product development.
• Build software solutions where the solution is not always well defined but always considers the customer first.

Basic Qualifications:

• US Citizen with the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance within 12 months from your start date with Leidos.
• Bachelor's degree with 8+ years of experience or a Master’s degree with 6+ years of experience. Additional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• 8+ years experience in backend development with the combination of any of the following languages: C, C++, Java, Kotlin, Rust, NodeJS.
• Strong passion for learning new technology and languages, w/ self directed learning.
• Ability to work with minimal direct oversight, capable of making leaps of intuition for novel solutions. Out of the box thinking is preferred.
• Strong communication skills, able to form their own positions and advocate for them.
• Proficient collaborating with others in a tight knit team dynamic.
• In-depth experience with container technologies (Docker, Podman). 
• Firm grasp of best practices for software targeting critical production systems.
• Understanding of microservice architectures.
• Extensive experience with testing code. This would include at a minimum unit and integration testing.

Preferred Qualifications:

• US Citizen with an active TS/SCI security clearance.
• Knowledge of algorithms & geospatial related math.
• Hands on experience with: Rust, Web Assembly (WASM).
• Understanding of the following technologies: graphics API.
• Knowledge of mutation testing.
• Prior experience working with military/USAF
• Experience with USSTRATCOM Nuclear Planning process.
• Experience with the use of the Air Vehicle Planning System (APS) for mission planning.

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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:

May 26, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00

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.