Principle Systems Engineer
Leidos
- Location
- Laurel, MD
- Work model
- On-Site
- Level
- Mid
- H-1B history
- 26 approvals (FY2023)
- Posted
- Aug 28, 2026
About this role
About Leidos Leidos is a FORTUNE 500® company bringing a mix of innovative technology and sector expertise to customers in the national security, engineering, and health industries. We deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers' success. Guided by our Mission, Vision, and Values, Leidos empowers its teams, contributes to its communities, and operates sustainably—always with a commitment to doing the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. The Leidos Intel Sector combines technology-enabled services and mission software capabilities in the areas of cyber, logistics, security operations, and decision analytics to support Intelligence Community customers as they address evolving national security challenges. About the Opportunity Leidos is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to provide technical leadership and engineering direction across the requirements, architecture, design, integration, verification, and lifecycle management of complex mission systems. You will guide systems-engineering efforts from stakeholder needs and requirements through architecture, design, integration, verification, deployment, and operations. At this level, you will also provide technical direction across complex hardware/software systems, evaluate and recommend engineering alternatives, maintain technical baselines and configuration integrity, influence system standards and integration strategies, and help guide critical technical decisions. This role requires extensive systems-engineering experience and demonstrated success planning and leading Systems Engineering efforts. Why This Role Matters Complex mission systems require technical leadership that extends beyond individual engineering activities. Requirements, architectures, interfaces, risks, configurations, standards, and lifecycle decisions must remain aligned across interconnected hardware and software components and multiple engineering disciplines. As a Principal Systems Engineer, you will bring the technical judgment and systems perspective needed to guide those decisions, maintain engineering integrity, and help ensure mission capabilities remain effective throughout their lifecycle.
What You'll Do
Requirements Engineering & Technical Baseline Analyze user requirements, CONOPS, and high-level system architectures to develop system requirements specifications. Guide stakeholders in formulating requirements, evaluating alternative approaches, and assessing technical feasibility. Manage system and derived requirements to support delivery of production systems compatible with defined architectures, including DoDAF and SOA environments. Develop and allocate system and functional requirements across hardware, software, facilities, and personnel components. Derive lower-level requirements and ensure they are complete, correct, unique, unambiguous, realizable, and verifiable. Identify functions implied by stakeholder needs and system requirements that are essential to system effectiveness. Establish formal requirements-change processes that assess impacts before commitment, maintain traceability, gain stakeholder agreement, eliminate ambiguity, and track open actions through resolution. Manage and maintain the technical integrity of the system baseline throughout development, deployment, operations, and maintenance. Develop derived Information Assurance requirements addressing confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, availability, identification, authentication, access control, accountability, and applicable security mechanisms. Architecture, Design & System Analysis Lead system design and development activities based on system requirements and mission needs. Generate alternative system concepts, physical architectures, and design solutions. Develop system design solutions that satisfy system requirements and functional analyses. Develop comprehensive Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)