Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Gaithersburg, MD
- Work setup
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 6+ years
- Category
- Product
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline with 8+ years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience. (Equivalent experi
- Experience and familiarity with Agile methodology, principles, and tools
- Experience in the role of Agile Product Owner, including owning and prioritizing the product backlog, defining complete product backlog items (user stories), making timely decisions on scope, and acce
- Demonstrated ability to decompose complex requirements into testable work items with clear, verifiable acceptance criteria
- Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes, including attention to detail
- Past practical exposure to writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining software or scripts
- Experience with the design of cloud-based systems
- Experience in engaging customers to understand needs, deliver solutions, manage expectations, and maintain an ongoing relationship
- Experience working within a Scaled Agile (SAFe) organization, including PI planning and cross-team coordination
- Clear and effective verbal and written communication
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust
- U.S. citizenship required
- Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer
Nice to have
- Knowledge of and experience with AI-assisted development workflows and tools (Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
- Experience with Java, Python, React, and scripting languages
- SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM) certification
- Knowledge of and experience with DevSecOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
- Knowledge of hybrid cloud data mesh architectures and microservices platforms
- Familiarity with MBSE concepts and systems engineering integration
- Knowledge of air traffic control systems, air traffic management, general aviation, and/or flight services
- Practical knowledge of FAA/DoD systems, technical policies, standards, and orders
- Knowledge of FedRAMP, FISMA, or government security compliance frameworks
- Experience supporting verification and validation of safety-critical systems
- Track record of successful delivery on large government programs
- Desired but not required: Commutable distance to Gaithersburg, MD; Eagan, MN; or Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
Full description
Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP). L-CAP is a mission-critical, future-ready automation platform built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture, enabling next-generation air traffic management capabilities. This role operates within a SAFe/Agile framework as part of an Agile Release Train (ART) delivering iterative value across the program.
In this position, you will serve as the Product Owner for a development team in an Agile/SAFe environment, owning the team backlog and assisting in the design and implementation of software solutions alongside your team while working with program architects, customer stakeholders, Product Management, and DevSecOps teams. You will translate platform and mission capability needs into testable, prioritized work that the team can deliver predictably in a highly regulated, safety-critical environment.
This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home, if you are located within a commutable distance (Less than 1 hour's drive one-way during normal traffic) from Gaithersburg, MD; Eagan, MN; or Egg Harbor Township, NJ. However, if you do not reside within a commutable distance, you may be considered for a 100% remote role.
This role focuses on building and modernizing real-time, safety-critical systems using a combination of traditional systems engineering and AI-augmented software development practices. You’ll work on software that directly supports national air traffic operations, applying AI tools to accelerate development, improve quality, and enhance system reliability.
Primary Responsibilities
- Own and prioritize the backlog for one or more Agile teams, sequencing work based on stakeholder needs, program priorities, and dependencies, and ensuring the development team builds the right functionality
- Review program requirement documents, system specifications, and applicable FAA standards and orders to extract intent, constraints, and acceptance criteria
- Decompose high-level platform and mission capability needs into specific, testable capability statements (Agile features and stories) with clear acceptance criteria
- Maintain traceability from source requirements through features, stories, and verification evidence, ensuring compliance outcomes are demonstrable
- Engage customer stakeholders to identify use cases with an emphasis on completeness, testability, alignment with operational workflows, and readiness for validation and field activities
- Define team PI objectives, participate in PI planning and backlog refinement, make timely scope decisions, and accept completed work
- Systematically capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade-offs, compliance rationales, and risk assessments with each release, enabling reviewers to trace decision-making and provide informed feedback