Engineering Lead, Inner Developer Loop

Leidos

About The Position

Wanted: An engineer who obsesses over the first hour—and makes it count for thousands of people. Leidos is transforming how thousands of engineers build mission-critical software. That transformation starts before the first git commit—it starts the moment a developer opens their laptop. Today, that moment takes weeks. New engineers file tickets, wait for access, manually configure their environment, and stumble through tribal knowledge before they can contribute. We're ending that. This role exists to lead a team that completely reimagines the inner developer loop: the workstation, what's on it, how it connects to enterprise systems, how developers get what they need without waiting on anyone—and yes, how AI-powered development tools become a first-class part of that experience from day one. You'll lead the engineers who build that future. Why This Role Matters This is not an IT role. This is not a DevOps role. This is not a tools evangelism role. This is about proving—through systems you build, environments you ship, and experiences you create—that world-class developer experience is possible inside a large, complex, security-constrained organization. The inner developer loop is where productivity is won or lost. When it works, engineers spend their time on mission software. When it doesn't, they spend their time fighting their tools, waiting for access, and re-solving problems that hundreds of their colleagues already solved last month. You'll change that. You'll lead a team that makes the first hour count—and keeps counting every day after. You'll make AI-powered development a seamless part of how Leidos engineers work. And you'll help establish what great developer experience looks like at enterprise scale, in one of the largest engineering organizations supporting national security. If you've been waiting for the infrastructure problem that's actually worth solving—this is it.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and 12+ years in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field (Master's preferred). Additional years experience may be used in lieu of degree.
12+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, including experience building or owning developer tooling, platform engineering, or internal developer experience systems.
Experience leading small technical teams—you've owned outcomes as a tech lead or engineering lead, not just contributed to them.
Deep expertise in at least one relevant domain: systems/platform engineering, DevOps, developer tooling, workstation management, or infrastructure—with working fluency across multiple domains.
Hands-on experience with enterprise developer environment tooling: endpoint management (e.g., Jamf, Intune, or similar), identity and access management, package management, CI/CD pipelines, and container runtimes.
Proven experience using AI coding tools (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Sourcegraph Cody, etc.) in real development workflows—not just demos.
Strong understanding of software quality practices: testing strategies, code review, CI/CD, and how to maintain quality while moving fast.
Excellent communication skills—you can work across engineering teams, security teams, and IT operations, and translate between all of them.
Familiarity with secure software development practices, especially in regulated or compliance-heavy environments (bonus: experience with FedRAMP, DoD IL4/5, RMF).
U.S. citizenship required; ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated leadership in enterprise-scale engineering transformation (DevEx, platform engineering, CI/CD modernization, or large-scale tooling adoption) with measurable improvement in DORA or SPACE metrics.
Proven experience embedding within delivery teams as a senior technical change agent, influencing without authority and driving sustained workflow transformation.
Hands-on experience operationalizing AI-augmented software development practices beyond individual productivity—establishing team-level patterns for code review, testing, and architecture.
Experience delivering mission-critical software in regulated environments (DoD, IC, FedRAMP High, IL5/6) where security, compliance, and velocity must coexist.
Strong architectural depth in distributed, cloud-native systems and DevSecOps automation at scale.
Experience building or contributing to internal developer platforms, paved roads, or enterprise engineering standards.
Recognized technical credibility (e.g., principal/staff-level scope, open-source contributions, conference speaking, or internal technical leadership).

Responsibilities

Lead a team building the inner dev loop. Own the end-to-end experience from laptop-in-box to first pull request: workstation imaging and configuration, privilege and access workflows, enterprise connectivity, developer tooling, and the AI-powered development environment that ties it all together.
Turn "weeks to onboard" into "ready in an hour." The benchmark is real: a developer receives their machine, opens it, and is writing code for their team within their first hour. Your team designs and builds the systems that make that possible at enterprise scale.
Make agentic development tools a first-class citizen. AI coding tools aren't a plugin someone installs later—they're part of the standard environment your team ships. You also ensure developers actually know how to use them well: the workflows, the review patterns, the practices that separate real productivity gains from novelty.
Lead by building. This is not a program management role. You write code, review code, and architect solutions alongside your team. Your credibility comes from what you ship.
Engage deeply with program teams. Your team's work only succeeds if it fits how real engineering teams operate. You stay connected to 3–5 active programs, understand their constraints, and bring those lessons back to improve what you're building.
Drive measurable impact. Success shows up in the metrics: onboarding time collapses, developer satisfaction improves, AI tool adoption climbs, and teams spend less time wrestling with their environment and more time delivering mission software.
Stay ahead of the curve. Continuously evaluate emerging tools and practices—in workstation management, developer environments, and agentic development—and incorporate what's worth adopting into the enterprise standard.