Senior Systems Engineer – Technical Program Lead

The Undersea Systems Division at Leidos currently has an opening for a Senior Systems Engineer/Technical Program Lead to support a customer site in San Diego, California. This is an exciting opportunity to apply systems engineering, naval operations, test and evaluation, and technical project-management experience in support of large-scale fleet activities and critical maritime missions.

If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading!

We're seeking an experienced Systems Engineer who brings both technical depth and the confidence to serve as a trusted advisor to senior government and military customers. This individual will lead and coordinate complex engineering efforts while supporting Technical Program Lead responsibilities, bridging the gap between technical execution, program priorities, and mission success

The selected candidate will serve as the onsite Systems Engineer and Senior Technical Representative, working closely with the Leidos Project Manager, customer leadership, engineers, fleet personnel, operational stakeholders, and government representatives. The position will support day-to-day onsite execution of program activities while also contributing directly to systems engineering, integration, test, and evaluation efforts.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serve as the onsite senior technical representative for Leidos at the customer site in San Diego.
• Work side by side with customer leadership and technical personnel to support day-to-day program execution and mission priorities.
• Support the Leidos Project Manager with program planning, execution, customer coordination, schedule management, risk management, and delivery of program commitments.
• Lead and coordinate engineering activities across multiple technical disciplines and stakeholder organizations.
• Translate customer operational needs into technically sound engineering approaches, priorities, requirements, and recommendations.
• Coordinate with engineers, subcontractors, fleet personnel, operators, government stakeholders, and program leadership to resolve technical and operational issues.
• Track technical scope, milestones, schedules, deliverables, action items, risks, issues, dependencies, and decisions.
• Maintain project-management artifacts, including project plans, schedules, milestone trackers, risk and issue registers, action-item logs, and status reports.
• Identify schedule, resource, technical, interface, cost, or performance concerns and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Facilitate technical interchange meetings, program reviews, working groups, integrated product team meetings, and customer engagements.
• Guide engineering teams in systems architecture, requirements analysis, systems integration, interface definition, verification and validation, and technical documentation.
• Review engineering products and ensure technical deliverables are accurate, complete, consistent, and aligned with customer and program requirements.
• Support development and review of engineering analyses, technical assessments, system requirements, design documentation, integration plans, and program deliverables.
• Support test and evaluation planning, assessment, and reporting activities as needed; extensive at-sea testing is not expected to be the primary responsibility.
• Prepare and deliver technical briefings, program-status updates, decision presentations, risk updates, and recommendations to senior military and government leadership.
• Analyze technical and operational information to identify deficiencies, risks, limitations, dependencies, and opportunities for improvement.
• Coordinate responses to customer requests and ensure follow-up actions are completed on schedule.
• Support program planning, resource coordination, subcontractor or partner coordination, and preparation of technical inputs for contract deliverables.
• Provide technical and program leadership during periods of increased operational activity or surge support.
• Travel domestically and internationally as required to support customer engagements, program activities, fleet events, and occasional demonstrations or assessments.
• Communicate effectively with audiences ranging from engineers and operators to senior military and government leaders.
• Support other systems engineering, technical leadership, and Deputy Project Manager activities as assigned.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, naval architecture, mechanical engineering, ocean engineering, electrical engineering, project management, or a related technical discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in systems engineering, naval engineering, maritime operations, fleet support, technical leadership, program management, or a related technical field.
• Demonstrated experience supporting complex maritime, naval, shipboard, submarine, underwater, or other defense systems.
• Experience working directly with customer, government, military, engineering, or operational stakeholders to address technical requirements and mission needs.
• Experience leading or coordinating engineering activities across multiple technical disciplines or organizations.
• Experience supporting program execution, including schedule management, deliverables, action items, risks, issues, stakeholder coordination, and status reporting.
• Experience developing, reviewing, or managing technical documentation, engineering analyses, requirements, system designs, integration products, or program deliverables.
• Experience analyzing technical or operational information and communicating recommendations through written products, briefings, status reports, and presentations.
• Experience facilitating technical meetings, program reviews, working groups, or customer engagements.
• Ability to work effectively in a customer-facing environment alongside senior government, military, engineering, and program personnel.
• Ability to balance systems engineering responsibilities with onsite Deputy Project Manager duties.
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally, including overseas travel several times per year.
• Must be a US Citizen
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active TS/SCI security clearance.
• Experience serving as a Deputy Project Manager, Assistant Project Manager, technical lead, chief engineer, or equivalent onsite program representative.
• Experience coordinating across government organizations, engineering teams, fleet personnel, contractors, operational commands, and other stakeholders.

• Experience with software development, scripting, or software-intensive systems.
• Technical competency with Linux operating systems and environments.
• Experience with maritime command-and-control, communications, combat systems, unmanned systems, or related mission technologies.
• Graduate degree in engineering, systems engineering, project management, or a related technical discipline.
• DAWIA, Defense Acquisition Corps, INCOSE, PMP, or other relevant professional certification.
• Experience supporting classified programs, defense acquisition, operational planning, intelligence organizations, or government technical agencies.

SUBSEAMSS

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

November 6, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.