Freelance Algorithmic Trading Software Developer Jobs in California

Description

Today, Electronic Warfare is a growing enterprise - protecting the warfighter and our national security against ever-adapting threats. Our EW division currently has an exciting opportunity for an Algorithm Software Engineer to perform design, development, and hardware/software integration in San Diego, CA for the Electronic Warfare Division. 

Leidos is a DOD leader in electronic design and chiplet manufacture. Our division primarily focuses on research & development and advanced prototyping, transforming state-of-the-art processing algorithms into real-time software systems. Projects involve small multi-disciplinary teams of engineers working together in spiral or agile development environments to meet aggressive customer schedules aimed at near-term field demonstrations. Leidos utilizes its proprietary design methodology for hardware software co-design to manufacture custom SoC and IP for high performance applications.

In this role, the Algorithm Software Engineer will develop and deploy cutting edge signal processing applications to improve the capabilities of the warfighter in modern electronic warfare environments. This role requires understanding signal processing algorithms and deploying them to massively parallelized pipelines executed to meet extreme real-time requirements on Leidos SoCs. The Algorithm Software Engineer is responsible for interfacing with a diverse set of engineers from signal processing, embedded, and RF teams.

Join a team of experts in implementing high-performance signal processing on custom system-on-chip (SoC) hardware and building the tools that enable analysis, rapid prototyping, and deployment of cutting-edge algorithms.

The successful candidate will be responsible for: 

• Contributing to design and development of advanced systems as a part of multi-disciplinary teams.  These teams are made up of other software team members and subject matter experts from the areas of systems engineering, hardware, firmware, RF front end design, and signal processing. 

• Designing, implementing, and testing C applications in a real-time environment

• Understanding and analyzing signal processing algorithms developed in MATLAB

• Porting signal processing algorithms from MATLAB, Python, or C++ to C in a multi-core environment on Leidos SoCs

• Optimizing C code for DSP applications (i.e. leveraging SIMD, VLIW, or hardware accelerators) and parallel processing to achieve real-time requirements

• Developing Hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) tests to validate signal processing algorithms

• Clearly communicating technical details of software to internal and external engineers 

• Supporting system field testing and collection events, usually about a week in duration once or twice a year 

At Leidos we value passion for learning.  If you believe you have what it takes to succeed in this role and are eager to learn, we encourage you to apply.  

The successful candidate will have the following basic education/experience: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science 

• 8+ years of software development experience, including strong experience in C/C++ software development for embedded systems

• Understanding of linear algebra and probability

• Strong understanding of basic signal processing (e.g. Fourier transforms, filtering, complex arithmetic)

• Understanding of hardware-software interaction and basic computer architecture 

• Experience in MATLAB and signal processing algorithms

• Experience with build tools such as GCC, CMake, or Make

• Experience using version control (e.g. git, Subversion, etc.) and continuous integration software tools (e.g. Jenkins) 

• Experience with software testing tools and methodology 

• Experience in creating and maintaining technical documentation for developed software

• Ability to communicate and share ideas, concepts, and designs with a team of engineers

• Comfortable working in Linux development environments

• Demonstrated ability and motivation to continually learn new technical skills and concepts

• Must have active Secret level security clearance with the ability to obtain a TS/SCI.

Bonus education/experience: 

• Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent and 6+ years of experience

• Active security clearance at the Secret level or higher 

• Experience with other programming languages such as MATLAB, or equivalent OOP language 

• Experience with parallel processing (e.g. SIMD, VLIW, distributed computing)

• Experience with RF signal processing or related applications

• Experience maintaining, tracking, and updating ticket/status using Gitlab or similar interface

NKE

ElectronicWarfare

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:March 5, 2026Pay 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.

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.