Software Engineer

General program information and/or position overview:

Candidates will join an experienced and motivated group responsible for the design and prototyping of embedded electronics systems used in autonomous ocean applications. This position will collaborate within a medium-sized team of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineers, contributing to systems currently under development, as well as future systems. This person will directly support the team in designing, developing, and testing software by using a variety of Linux computers or microcontrollers. Candidates will be involved in the complete development process: initial concept, rapid prototyping, development, integration, verification, and at-sea testing.

Primary Responsibilities:

Collaborate with an integrated government/industry/academia team to identify software requirements and evaluate design approaches for solving technical problems.

Architect, design, and implement maintainable, robust, and performant software, build, and test processes.

Integrate, test, and verify software implementations on target hardware platforms.

Creatively recognize performance gaps and suggest possible improvements.

Participate in activities to secure and harden Linux systems according to Department of Defense (DoD) standards.

Operate autonomous systems in the lab, or at sea, to accomplish the above.

Post Mission Analysis (PMA) for autonomous systems including validation of control laws, characterization of navigation performance, and modification of behaviors.

Communicate regularly across the engineering team to coordinate development efforts, anticipate design changes, prioritize feature implementations and bug fixes, and solicit team feedback.

Basic Qualifications

U.S. Citizen with ability to obtain minimum SECRET security clearance; active clearance preferred

Bachelor's or higher degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or Mathematics (with a software background), or other STEM fields

1+ years of experience in one or more of the following areas:

Linux application development, embedded and user facing, using tools such as: x64 and/or ARM environments

Virtual machines

VS Code, or similar, Integrated development environments (IDEs)

Valgrind, or similar, memory debuggers

CMake, or similar, software build tools

Cross compilation

Unit testing and/or regression testing

Subversion (SVN) and/or Git repositories

Continuous integration (CI) / Continuous deployment (CD) pipelines

Linux system hardening and security best practices:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG)

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for SSH or similar frameworks

Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) disk encryption

Proficiency in one or more of the following languages:

C; C++, Python, Java

Hardware in the loop testing using instruments such as power supplies, multi-meters, etc.

Familiarity with or ability to read, understand, and interpret complex technical documents such as Software Requirements

Specifications (SRSs) or Interface Control Documents (ICDs).

Proficiency with basic office software (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Teams, SharePoint).

Able to lift objects up to 40 pounds.

Able to travel domestically or internationally, estimated at 1-2 weeks per trip up to 4 times per year.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with Agile and Scrum project management practices.

Working knowledge of low-level communication protocols (SPI, I2C, RS-232, CAN, Ethernet, etc.).

Experience with Real-time Operating System (RTOS) or bare-metal microcontroller firmware development using tools such as:

Microchip MPLAB X IDE, or similar

Microchip In-Circuit Debugger/Programmer (ICD5), Segger J-Link JTAG Debugger/Programmer, or similar

Laboratory instruments such as power supplies, multi-meters, oscilloscopes, logical analyzers, electronic loads, and the like

Altium Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design software, or similar

Experience with other Linux environment tools such as:

OpenCV computer vision algorithms

Nvidia Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) platform

Bash scripting

Octave, MatLab, or similar software packages for data analysis

Experience with Navy standard platforms for autonomous vehicles such as:

OpenAUV framework

PCX framework

Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware

Experience with Raspberry Pi, or similar, low power embedded computers.

Familiarity with basic oceanographic instruments like depth sensors, altimeters, long or short baseline systems, doppler velocity logs, altitude & heading reference systems (AHRS), and similar.

Experience with small boat operations and at-sea testing.

At Leidos, we don't want someone who "fits the mold"-we want someone who melts it down and builds something better. This is a role for the restless, the over-caffeinated, the ones who ask, "what's next?" before the dust settles on "what's now."

If you're already scheming step 20 while everyone else is still debating step 2... good. You'll fit right in.

Original Posting:
August 20, 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 $85,150.00 - $153,925.00

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.