Lead Test Engineer

Leidos is seeking a Test Engineer to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP). L-CAP is a mission-critical, future-ready automation platform built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture, enabling next-generation air traffic management capabilities. We are building with an AI-first engineering mindset, embracing emerging AI capabilities and modern development practices to accelerate delivery, improve software quality, and continuously evolve how we design and build mission-critical systems. This role operates within a SAFe/Agile framework as part of an Agile Release Train (ART) delivering iterative value across the program. This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Public Trust investigation. 

This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days working from home, if you are 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. However, if you do not reside within a commutable distance, you may be considered for a 100% remote role. 

What You’ll Do 

• Design and implement test automation frameworks for microservices-based platform components 

• Build and maintain reusable test libraries and utilities for the L-CAP test infrastructure 

• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines ensuring continuous quality gates 

• Conduct performance testing to validate system behavior under load and stress conditions 

• Execute integration testing across platform services, APIs, and external system interfaces 

• Develop test plans and strategies aligned with sprint and PI objectives 

• Analyze defect patterns and test metrics to identify quality trends and improvement opportunities 

• Collaborate with development and systems engineering teams on testability and quality requirements 

• Support test environment configuration and test data management activities 

• Mentor junior test engineers on automation practices and testing methodologies 

• Design and execute test scenarios based on operational ATC workflows ensuring modernized services replicate legacy system behavior 

• Develop distributed service validation frameworks verifying inter-service communication, data flow, and performance under operational conditions 

• Implement data-driven verification approaches supporting modernization of legacy automation functions 

• Embrace an AI-first engineering culture by actively adopting AI-assisted development tools, automation, and modern engineering practices that improve productivity, code quality, and delivery velocity. 

Core Technical Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related discipline with 8+ years of experience, or Master’s degree with 6+ years (additional experience, education and training may be considered in lieu of degree)
• Strong experience with test automation frameworks (Selenium, JUnit, pytest, or equivalent) and Java or JavaScript test development
• Expert integrating automated testing into CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or similar tools
• High experience with performance, integration, and API testing for distributed systems using tools such as JMeter or Gatling
• Knowledge of distributed service testing, including service virtualization, contract testing, chaos engineering, and data-driven test automation
• Experience with operational scenario-based testing, behavioral validation, root cause analysis, and defect investigation
• Familiarity with Agile/SAFe testing, quality engineering principles, test management, and defect tracking tools
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust
• U.S. citizenship required
• Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer

Preferred / Desired Qualifications: 

• Python scripting and test development proficiency 

• Experience testing microservices and event-driven architectures 

• Knowledge of containerized test environments (Docker, Kubernetes) 

• Experience with API testing frameworks (REST Assured, Postman/Newman) 

• Familiarity with security testing tools and practices 

• Experience in aviation, defense, or safety-critical testing domains 

• Knowledge of test-driven development (TDD) and behavior-driven development (BDD) 

• Experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code generation, automated testing, intelligent debugging) 

• Experience testing legacy-to-modern migration verifying functional equivalence between old and new systems 

Why Leidos? 

You’ll work on systems where performance, precision, and reliability matter — every second. This is not experimental AI for prototypes. This is disciplined, responsible AI applied to mission-critical software that supports national infrastructure.

If you’re excited by solving complex problems in regulated, real-world environments — and using AI as a force multiplier rather than a shortcut — we’d like to talk.

ATMC

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 $92,300.00 - $166,850.00

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.