Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner

Leidos is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer — Product Owner to help advance the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP) in an Agile/SAFe environment. In this hybrid role, you will own and prioritize the team backlog, convert mission and platform needs into testable work, and coordinate delivery in a regulated, safety-critical context.

The work supports development of real-time systems through a combination of traditional systems engineering and AI-augmented software development practices. You will apply AI tools to accelerate development, improve quality, and enhance system reliability as part of an Agile Release Train delivering iterative value across the program.

What you will do

• Own and prioritize the backlog for one or more Agile teams, sequencing work based on stakeholder needs, program priorities, and dependencies while ensuring the 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 so compliance outcomes are demonstrable.
• Engage customer stakeholders to identify use cases with 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.
• Capture and communicate design decisions, performance trade-offs, compliance rationales, and risk assessments with each release to enable reviewers to trace decision-making and provide informed feedback.
• Prepare and review technical documentation, including use cases, user interface specifications, and interface definitions.
• Coordinate with the Release Train Engineer, Product Management, systems engineering, and Test and Evaluation to manage dependencies and align delivery with integration and verification milestones.
• Lead and participate in structured reviews and inspections.

Required qualifications

• 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 experience may be used in lieu of degree).
• 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 scope decisions, and accepting work.
• Demonstrated ability to decompose complex requirements into testable work items with clear, verifiable acceptance criteria.
• Strong understanding of disciplined engineering processes and attention to detail.
• Practical experience writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining software or scripts.
• Experience in the design of cloud-based systems.
• Experience 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.

Role details

• Location: Eagan, MN (hybrid).
• Onsite/remote expectation: 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home if 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.
• Remote consideration: if you do not reside within a commutable distance, you may be considered for a 100% remote role.
• Framework: SAFe/Agile as part of an Agile Release Train (ART) delivering iterative value across the program.
• Architecture: hybrid cloud data mesh architecture.

Salary and benefits

• Pay range: USD 107,900 - 195,050 per year (pay range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00).
• Benefits: Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave, Retirement.

Preferred qualifications

• 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.