Chief Architect

Leidos Holdings Inc.•Gaithersburg, MD

51d

About The Position

Leidos' Transportation Solutions helps the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and international providers of air traffic systems to modernize infrastructure, systems and security. We are a trusted partner of the Federal Aviation Administration and regulated international customers looking for transformative solutions to mission critical operations. Our customers take on the toughest challenges out there to make our world safer and more efficient. We are seeking an energetic and dynamic Chief Architect with experience architecting and implementing mission and safety critical systems to provide technical leadership for our organization. The successful candidate will serve as the lead technical authority guiding architectural design, systems integration, and enterprise strategy across a high-visibility air traffic modernization initiative. The Chief Architect will work closely with our customer leadership, mission stakeholders, and other contractors to develop and implement a scalable, secure, and resilient enterprise architecture supporting the air traffic management domain. This role will lead a team of Architects serving multiple programs in the Transportation Solutions Business Area.

Requirements

BS degree and 15 - 20 years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 13 - 15 years of prior relevant experience. May possess a Doctorate in technical domain.
Extensive experience with FAA programs and deep knowledge of NAS Automation architectures.
Expertise in designing, evaluating, and integrating large-scale automation systems for mission-critical environments.
Proven leadership in developing architectures across multiple domains, ensuring performance, security, scalability, and interoperability.
Strong leadership and communication skills.
Prior experience managing geographically dispersed teams.
Strong collaboration skills with FAA stakeholders, contractors, and engineering teams to align solutions with program objectives.
Ability to translate complex technical requirements into practical, reliable, and future-ready solutions.
Eligibility to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance.

Responsibilities

Define, design, and validate architectures for large-scale FAA automation systems, ensuring alignment with enterprise goals and regulatory requirements.
Develop strategies to integrate new technologies into existing FAA infrastructures for mission-critical air traffic data functions.
Collaborate with FAA leadership, engineering teams, and contractors to align architectural approaches with program objectives and industry best practices.
Conduct cost-benefit analyses and trade studies to identify optimal solutions using commercial off-the-shelf products, reusable components, and custom designs.
Ensure compliance with FAA technical frameworks, security standards, and interoperability requirements.
Identify and evaluate emerging technologies, recommending strategies for adoption to enhance FAA automation capabilities.
Provide technical guidance, mentoring, and oversight to engineering teams for consistent and high-quality design outcomes.
Present clear insights on architectural tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations to FAA stakeholders and executive leadership.
Prepare for and lead technical readiness reviews.
Author white papers, prepare technical demonstrations, and deliver capability briefings to potential customers.
Lead development of written and oral technical proposals, to include support for internal reviews and adjudication of feedback.
Produce technical roadmaps that advance the technical baseline and address both the technical and the business factors.