Description

Leidos is dedicated to making the world a safer place. This starts with helping our customers in the Defense Industry achieve their critical missions. Our dedicated Defense Group employees are solving critical challenges across the globe. At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success.  We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainably. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business. With offices across the United States engaging in the defense, space, cyber and commercial fields, Leidos provides responsive, cost-effective engineering, scientific and IT solutions. Leidos is well known for our people-oriented culture, positive work environment, technical excellence, and resilient business ethics. 

Leidos is seeking a talented Research Scientist to work in our Huntsville, AL office. In the Leidos Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence branch, you will work to solve complex engineering problems with a highly technical, multidisciplinary team consisting of aerospace engineers, computer scientists, research scientists, and statisticians. Our team applies engineering and machine learning concepts to solve complex and highly technical problems on a variety of aerospace and defense applications. Accompanying this, we develop software applications that enable real-world operators to leverage our engineering solutions

Primary Responsibilities.

In this role you will work to develop solutions to aerospace and defense problems by applying a variety of engineering, AI/ML, and software technical skills. To succeed in this role, engineers are required to leverage internal resources (e.g., software toolkits), collaborate with peers and experienced professionals, and learn independently.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Math, Computer Science or Related field with 4-6 years of work experience.
• Graduate degree in Engineering, Math, Computer Science or Related field with 2-4 years of work experience.
• PhD degree in Engineering, Math, Computer Science or Related field with 0-2 years of work experience.
• Highly proficient with Python and C++ and modern programming practices.
• Experience unit testing frameworks (e.g., pytest, vitest) is strongly desired.
• Fundamental understanding of mathematical concepts, including linear algebra, matrix math, statistics, trigonometry, and coordinate frames.
• Understanding of machine learning basics, supervised learning, reinforcement learning, and statistics.
• Proficient with source control technologies (Git, GitLab)
• Solid technical communication skills and an ability to work in both collaborative team environments and independently
• Must be a resident of North Alabama area, or willing to relocate to work on-site at the Huntsville, AL office.

Security Clearance Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance.
• Eventually you must be able to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree is strongly desirable but not required.
• Active security clearance is desirable but not required.

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:

October 31, 2025

Pay Range:

Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00

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.

About Leidos

Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits.

Securing Your Data

Beware of fake employment opportunities using Leidos’ name. Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information during any part of the employment application process (i.e., ask you for money), nor will Leidos ever advance money as part of the hiring process (i.e., send you a check or money order before doing any work). Further, Leidos will only communicate with you through emails that are generated by the Leidos.com automated system – never from free commercial services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. If you received an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information (e.g., about you or your previous employer), and you are concerned about its legitimacy, please make us aware immediately by emailing us at LeidosCareersFraud@leidos.com.

If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.