Defense Contractor Software Engineer Jobs in Alabama

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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 sustainable. 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.

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Leidos Defense provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world's toughest security challenges for customers with "can't fail" missions.

Within the Defense Sector, Leidos currently has an opening for a talented Software Engineer to work onsite in our Huntsville office. This is an exciting opportunity to use your experience to develop software for critical counter UAS and missile defense solutions.

This position focuses on supporting the complete software lifecycle of complex defense systems in a Linux environment using languages like C++ and Python. The Software Engineer will develop software within a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) environment, collaborating with multiple stakeholders across a multi-disciplinary team and utilizing software best practices to create unique solutions for complex mission-critical problems.

Primary Responsibilities

• Developing software for use in a Linux environment

• Developing software in a SAFe environment using Jira and Gitlab

• Collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams to implement desired software functionality

• Utilizing software best practices such as peer reviewing and unit testing

• Debugging and troubleshooting software in a HWIL setting

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent degree from an ABET-accredited university with 2+ years of experience or Master's degree

• Strong competency in at least C/C++, Python

• Experience with software engineering throughout the software lifecycle

• Experience with software best practices such as peer reviews, automated testing, and document generation

• Experience collaborating with other functional groups (systems engineering, electrical engineering, test, etc.) to create a software product

• Experience working within an Agile environment (or equivalent)

• Experience using tools such as Jira and Gitlab (or equivalent)

• Experience developing within Qt IDE (or equivalent)

• Experience developing in a Linux environment

• Familiarity troubleshooting/testing software in an HWIL environment

• Currently living in Huntsville, AL or willing to relocate

• Currently holds or has the ability to obtain a Secret clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Buildroot and VMWare

• Experience using Wireshark and developing software that sends communications over a network (UDP/TCP)

• Supporting and maintaining CI/CD pipelines

• DoD acquisition processes and methods

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:July 24, 2026Pay Range:Pay Range $69,550.00 - $125,725.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand 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.