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Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
Onsite
Leidos is seeking a Senior Chief Engineer to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, leading the transformation of next-generation flight service and air traffic management systems supporting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This high-visibility leadership role will help drive the modernization of critical aviation infrastructure by replacing legacy systems with advanced, cloud-enabled technologies that enhance safety, resiliency, and operational efficiency across the National Airspace System. This mission-focused effort supports the FAA’s broader modernization strategy to deliver scalable, future-ready flight service capabilities for pilots and aviation stakeholders, particularly in remote and high-dependency operational environments. The work directly impacts the future of aviation safety and the evolution of mission-critical air traffic and flight services across the country.
As the Program Chief Engineer, you will serve as the senior technical leader responsible for shaping engineering strategy, driving execution across a large-scale Agile development program, and ensuring alignment between technical delivery, customer priorities, and program objectives. You will establish the technical roadmap and engineering execution framework while leading cross-functional teams through complex modernization efforts involving cloud technologies, Agile delivery, DevSecOps, automation, and AI-assisted development practices. This role requires a dynamic leader who can balance strategic vision with operational execution — proactively identifying technical risks, driving mitigation strategies, aligning engineering organizations around mission priorities, and delivering high-quality solutions in a fast-paced, mission-critical environment. You will work closely with FAA customers, program leadership, architects, and engineering teams to guide technical decision-making and ensure successful program outcomes.
This is an exciting opportunity to influence the future of aviation modernization, lead high-performing engineering organizations, and help deliver innovative capabilities that directly support the safety and efficiency of the nation’s airspace system.
This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust Clearance.
Required Qualifications
Masters with 15 – 20 years of prior relevant experience or Doctorate with 13 – 16 years of prior relevant experience.
Proven experience developing and executing complex technical program plans and schedules
Demonstrated experience identifying program risks, root causes, and mitigation strategies
Strong understanding of quantitative management principles and delivery metrics aligned to program objectives
Proven ability to lead and align large cross-functional engineering organizations around strategic goals
Strong leadership, communication, team-building, and customer engagement skills
Demonstrated ability to make timely, data-informed decisions in dynamic environments and take ownership of resulting outcomes
Experience leading startup program execution and large-scale technical modernization initiatives
Demonstrated leadership of formal FAA test programs
U.S. Citizenship required
Preferred Qualifications
Experience leading large Scaled Agile (SAFe) development organizations
Experience designing and implementing cloud-based technical solutions
Experience championing AI-assisted software development and engineering modernization initiatives
Knowledge of Agile methodologies, principles, and delivery tools
Experience with DevSecOps practices, automation, and CI/CD pipelines
Knowledge of air traffic control systems, general aviation, and/or flight services
Experience supporting FAA modernization or mission-critical aviation systems programs
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.
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.
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.