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Overview
Leidos has an exciting opening for you as our next
TS/SCI cleared Principal Software Engineer
supporting a long-term DOMEX Technology Platform (DTP) contract. You will work closely with Systems Engineers, Software Engineers, Architects, and Operations Engineering/Manager on a broad scope of activities extending across the development of systems to include middle-tier and backend engineering tasks. Have impact as part of a mission focused, solutions oriented, and adaptive team that values innovation, collaboration, and professional development. While most work is conducted on-site at our client location in Bethesda, MD, we offer a flexible schedule and, occasionally, some tasks may be performed remotely. The percentage of remote work will vary based on client requirements/deliverables.
Responsibilities
Lead the design and architecture of backend systems and services.
Drive initiatives across the engineering team related to scalability, reliability, and performance.
Build robust, testable, and maintainable Python microservices
Architect message flows with Kafka, ensuring high availability and fault tolerance
Define data modeling, indexing, and query patterns for Elasticsearch to meet product requirements
Guide service deployments, rollout strategies, and observability practices in Kubernetes
Contribute to and review RFCs, design documents, and architecture reviews
Develop and integrate Docker containers to be deployed to Kubernetes from development to production
Monitor automated system integration tests to identify failed modules and components
Manage individual project priorities, deliverables, and deadlines
Provide input to software components of system design, including hardware/software trade-offs, software reuse, and requirements synthesis
Foster an environment of collaboration with team members to provide quality service and product
Act as a mentor to mid-level and junior engineers, offering guidance on best practices and career growth
Required qualifications
Typically requires Bachelor’s Degree and 12-15 years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 10-13 years of prior relevant experience
Must possess an Active Top Secret/SCI clearance and ability to obtain and maintain a Polygraph
7+ years of backend software engineering experience, including at least 5 years in Python
Proven expertise building and maintaining microservices in production in Kubernetes
Deep understanding of Elasticsearch internals: sharding, performance tuning, analyzers, query DSL
Strong Kafka experience: event design, stream processing, performance tuning
Solid grasp of distributed systems principles: fault tolerance, consensus, data consistency
Experience leading technical projects and mentoring engineers
Strong testing discipline with a focus on automation, coverage, and CI/CD pipelines
Experience with DevOps practices and tools including Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) tools and practices, especially Gitlab or Jenkins
Hands-on development and/or scripting experience, especially Python and Bash in Linux environment
Experience with AWS cloud-based architecture, services, and software development
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Enthusiastic with the ability to work well in a team and a self-starter who can work on their own
Nice-to-have skills
Active Security+ certification and ability to obtain Privileged User Account (PUA) certification
Elasticsearch certifications or other program stack related certifications
Experience with system design at scale — dealing with 100k+ messages/sec, TB-scale indexes
Familiarity with schema registries and Kafka streaming patterns
Familiarity with authentication and authorization products such as Keycloak
Experience with security best practices for services: authN/Z, secrets management, data protection
GraphQL familiarity and/or Apache NiFi experience
Hardware on-prem and cloud-based deployments using Kubernetes
Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code (i.e. CloudFormation, Terraform, Pulumi)
Experience of production/enterprise systems at scale
Knowledge of distributed systems concepts (e.g., idempotency, eventual consistency)
Proactive in identifying tech debt, systemic issues, and areas for team/process improvement
Additional information #NMECDTP-LEIDOS
Original Posting: September 16, 2025
Pay Range: $126,100.00 - $227,950.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline and not a guarantee of compensation. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, market data, and applicable laws.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
TS/SCI cleared Principal Software Engineer
supporting a long-term DOMEX Technology Platform (DTP) contract. You will work closely with Systems Engineers, Software Engineers, Architects, and Operations Engineering/Manager on a broad scope of activities extending across the development of systems to include middle-tier and backend engineering tasks. Have impact as part of a mission focused, solutions oriented, and adaptive team that values innovation, collaboration, and professional development. While most work is conducted on-site at our client location in Bethesda, MD, we offer a flexible schedule and, occasionally, some tasks may be performed remotely. The percentage of remote work will vary based on client requirements/deliverables.
Responsibilities
Lead the design and architecture of backend systems and services.
Drive initiatives across the engineering team related to scalability, reliability, and performance.
Build robust, testable, and maintainable Python microservices
Architect message flows with Kafka, ensuring high availability and fault tolerance
Define data modeling, indexing, and query patterns for Elasticsearch to meet product requirements
Guide service deployments, rollout strategies, and observability practices in Kubernetes
Contribute to and review RFCs, design documents, and architecture reviews
Develop and integrate Docker containers to be deployed to Kubernetes from development to production
Monitor automated system integration tests to identify failed modules and components
Manage individual project priorities, deliverables, and deadlines
Provide input to software components of system design, including hardware/software trade-offs, software reuse, and requirements synthesis
Foster an environment of collaboration with team members to provide quality service and product
Act as a mentor to mid-level and junior engineers, offering guidance on best practices and career growth
Required qualifications
Typically requires Bachelor’s Degree and 12-15 years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 10-13 years of prior relevant experience
Must possess an Active Top Secret/SCI clearance and ability to obtain and maintain a Polygraph
7+ years of backend software engineering experience, including at least 5 years in Python
Proven expertise building and maintaining microservices in production in Kubernetes
Deep understanding of Elasticsearch internals: sharding, performance tuning, analyzers, query DSL
Strong Kafka experience: event design, stream processing, performance tuning
Solid grasp of distributed systems principles: fault tolerance, consensus, data consistency
Experience leading technical projects and mentoring engineers
Strong testing discipline with a focus on automation, coverage, and CI/CD pipelines
Experience with DevOps practices and tools including Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) tools and practices, especially Gitlab or Jenkins
Hands-on development and/or scripting experience, especially Python and Bash in Linux environment
Experience with AWS cloud-based architecture, services, and software development
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Enthusiastic with the ability to work well in a team and a self-starter who can work on their own
Nice-to-have skills
Active Security+ certification and ability to obtain Privileged User Account (PUA) certification
Elasticsearch certifications or other program stack related certifications
Experience with system design at scale — dealing with 100k+ messages/sec, TB-scale indexes
Familiarity with schema registries and Kafka streaming patterns
Familiarity with authentication and authorization products such as Keycloak
Experience with security best practices for services: authN/Z, secrets management, data protection
GraphQL familiarity and/or Apache NiFi experience
Hardware on-prem and cloud-based deployments using Kubernetes
Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code (i.e. CloudFormation, Terraform, Pulumi)
Experience of production/enterprise systems at scale
Knowledge of distributed systems concepts (e.g., idempotency, eventual consistency)
Proactive in identifying tech debt, systemic issues, and areas for team/process improvement
Additional information #NMECDTP-LEIDOS
Original Posting: September 16, 2025
Pay Range: $126,100.00 - $227,950.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline and not a guarantee of compensation. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, market data, and applicable laws.
#J-18808-Ljbffr