Engineering Lead, Inner Developer Loop

"Wanted: An engineer who obsesses over the first hour-and makes it count for thousands of people."

Leidos is transforming how thousands of engineers build mission-critical software. That transformation starts before the first git commit-it starts the moment a developer opens their laptop.

Today, that moment takes weeks. New engineers file tickets, wait for access, manually configure their environment, and stumble through tribal knowledge before they can contribute. We're ending that.

This role exists to lead a team that completely reimagines the inner developer loop: the workstation, what's on it, how it connects to enterprise systems, how developers get what they need without waiting on anyone-and yes, how

AI-powered development tools become a first-class part of that experience from day one.

You'll lead the engineers who build that future.

Why This Role Matters
This is not an IT role. This is not a DevOps role. This is not a tools evangelism role.

This is about proving-through systems you build, environments you ship, and experiences you create-that world-class developer experience is possible inside a large, complex, security-constrained organization.

The inner developer loop is where productivity is won or lost. When it works, engineers spend their time on mission software. When it doesn't, they spend their time fighting their tools, waiting for access, and re-solving problems that hundreds of their colleagues already solved last month.

You'll change that. You'll lead a team that makes the first hour count-and keeps counting every day after. You'll make AI-powered development a seamless part of how Leidos engineers work. And you'll help establish what great developer experience looks like at enterprise scale, in one of the largest engineering organizations supporting national security.

If you've been waiting for the infrastructure problem that's actually worth solving-this is it.

What You'll Do
Lead a team building the inner dev loop. Own the end-to-end experience from laptop-in-box to first pull request: workstation imaging and configuration, privilege and access workflows, enterprise connectivity, developer tooling, and the AI-powered development environment that ties it all together.
Turn "weeks to onboard" into "ready in an hour." The benchmark is real: a developer receives their machine, opens it, and is writing code for their team within their first hour. Your team designs and builds the systems that make that possible at enterprise scale.
Make agentic development tools a first-class citizen. AI coding tools aren't a plugin someone installs later-they're part of the standard environment your team ships. You also ensure developers actually know how to use them well: the workflows, the review patterns, the practices that separate real productivity gains from novelty.
Lead by building. This is not a program management role. You write code, review code, and architect solutions alongside your team. Your credibility comes from what you ship.
Engage deeply with program teams. Your team's work only succeeds if it fits how real engineering teams operate. You stay connected to 3-5 active programs, understand their constraints, and bring those lessons back to improve what you're building.
Drive measurable impact. Success shows up in the metrics: onboarding time collapses, developer satisfaction improves, AI tool adoption climbs, and teams spend less time wrestling with their environment and more time delivering mission software.
Stay ahead of the curve. Continuously evaluate emerging tools and practices-in workstation management, developer environments, and agentic development-and incorporate what's worth adopting into the enterprise standard.

Who You Are
A builder first. You love writing code. You've shipped production systems that matter. You don't just talk about software quality-you deliver it, and you lead teams that do the same.
A platform thinker. You understand that developer tooling is a product. You've built or maintained systems that other engineers depend on-and you know what it takes to earn and keep their trust.
T-shaped depth. You have deep expertise in at least one domain (systems engineering, DevOps/platform engineering, developer tooling, infrastructure, etc.) and enough breadth to engage credibly with diverse engineering teams across the stack.
Already converted on AI. You're not AI-curious. You're all-in. You've integrated agentic development tools into your own workflow and experienced the step-change in what's possible-and you know how to help others get there.
A multiplier, not a hero. You measure success by what your team ships and how it changes the experience for the engineers using it. You're patient, collaborative, and genuinely energized by watching others level up.
Respected by skeptics. You have the technical credibility and communication skills to change minds-both engineers who resist change and stakeholders who control the environments you need to modify.

What You'll Face
Enterprise environments where "the way it's always been done" is enforced by policy, process, and inertia-not just preference.
Security and compliance requirements that are non-negotiable and must be designed around, not fought against.
Engineers with deeply ingrained workflows who need proof before they'll change.
The challenge of building a standardized environment that actually fits the diversity of teams and programs across Leidos.
Pressure to show measurable results while respecting that foundational platform work takes time to pay off.

And still, you'll deliver because you've already solved hard infrastructure problems-and you know this one is worth solving.

Your Technical Impact
Reduce developer onboarding time from weeks to hours-measured, repeatable, and consistent across programs.
Build a workstation and environment provisioning system that configures itself: the right tools, the right access, the right connections to enterprise systems, out of the box.
Establish agentic development tools as part of the Leidos standard developer environment-installed, configured, and ready on day one.
Define and maintain the patterns that help teams use those tools well: workflows, review practices, quality guardrails that scale beyond any single team.
Improve the DORA/SPACE metrics that matter most to the inner loop like lead time and developer-reported experience scores.
Build trust that lets Leidos move faster on AI-native software development while maintaining security, quality, and compliance standards.

Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree and 12+ years in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field (Master's preferred). Additional years experience may be used in lieu of degree.
12+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, including experience building or owning developer tooling, platform engineering, or internal developer experience systems.
Experience leading small technical teams-you've owned outcomes as a tech lead or engineering lead, not just contributed to them.
Deep expertise in at least one relevant domain: systems/platform engineering, DevOps, developer tooling, workstation management, or infrastructure-with working fluency across multiple domains.
Hands-on experience with enterprise developer environment tooling: endpoint management (e.g., Jamf, Intune, or similar), identity and access management, package management, CI/CD pipelines, and container runtimes.
Proven experience using AI coding tools (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody, etc.) in real development workflows-not just demos.
Strong understanding of software quality practices: testing strategies, code review, CI/CD, and how to maintain quality while moving fast.
Excellent communication skills-you can work across engineering teams, security teams, and IT operations, and translate between all of them.
Familiarity with secure software development practices, especially in regulated or compliance-heavy environments (bonus: experience with FedRAMP, DoD IL4/5, RMF).
U.S. citizenship required; ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications
Demonstrated leadership in enterprise-scale engineering transformation (DevEx, platform engineering, CI/CD modernization, or large-scale tooling adoption) with measurable improvement in DORA or SPACE metrics.
Proven experience embedding within delivery teams as a senior technical change agent, influencing without authority and driving sustained workflow transformation.
Hands-on experience operationalizing AI-augmented software development practices beyond individual productivity-establishing team-level patterns for code review, testing, and architecture.
Experience delivering mission-critical software in regulated environments (DoD, IC, FedRAMP High, IL5/6) where security, compliance, and velocity must coexist.
Strong architectural depth in distributed, cloud-native systems and DevSecOps automation at scale.
Experience building or contributing to internal developer platforms, paved roads, or enterprise engineering standards.
Recognized technical credibility (e.g., principal/staff-level scope, open-source contributions, conference speaking, or internal technical leadership).

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:
February 26, 2026

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 $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.