Remote Defense Distributed Jobs in Illinois (NOW HIRING)

Leidos, a leading defense, intelligence, and technology company, is seeking motivated and aspiring software engineering students for ourSummer 2027 Internship Program (Starts May 2027). As aSoftware Engineering & AI Intern, you will join ourDigital Sectoron the Global Solutions Management - Operations II (GSM-O II) contract. This contract includes the Operations, Sustainment, Maintenance, Repair, and Defense of the Defense Information System Network (DISN) in support of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). This role is primarily remote, with mandatory, periodic on-site requirements at either Scott AFB, IL or Ft. Meade, MD.

Your Opportunity:

We are looking for highly motivated, driven, and capable candidates to join our GSM-O Global Automation and Intelligent Network Solutions (GAINS) Team! This summer, you will do more than observe-you will help build intelligent systems that operate at mission-critical scale. You will work with high-volume data, engineer real-time pipelines using technologies such as Kafka and Elastic, and apply predictive machine learning and generative AI to detect emerging problems and advance towardclosed-loop, self-healing networks. You will gain hands-on experience with AWS, Databricks, Watson AIOps and cybersecurity automation, building the technical experience and portfolio-ready accomplishments that can accelerate your career.

What You'll Do (Potential Projects & Learning Opportunities):

• Design, develop, document, test, and deploy software written in Python, JavaScript, Java, and SQL.
• Create Kibana visualizations and dashboards to provide information to users and support staff.
• Develop Kafka system integrations between Elasticsearch/Logstash and other systems, such as Databricks.
• Develop and apply AI/ML and automation capabilities.
• Assist with the deployment, configuration, testing, troubleshooting, maintenance, updates/upgrades of Kafka and Elastic clusters and environments.
• Develop automated tests using Ansible, Selenium, JMeter, Junit and/or other applicable tools.
• Develop automated CI/CD build/deployment pipelines using Jenkins, Artifactory, Kubernetes, Docker,Ansible, and Bitbucket.
• Work with an Agile team, attend daily scrums, and demonstrate working software while collaborating with a geographically distributed (remote) team.
• Troubleshoot and resolve installation, infrastructure, and system issues.
• Proactively and independently identify, report, monitor, and mitigate technical risks.
• Frequently communicate and collaborate with other team members to ensure successful completion of project objectives.

What You'll Bring (Required):

• Citizenship & Clearance:Must be a U.S. citizen.Ability to obtain an interim Secret DoD Security clearance prior to your start date is required(selected candidates will be sponsored for the required clearance).
• Education:Currently pursuing a degree in a relevant discipline such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Data Science.
• Technical Foundation:Software development experience with Python, Java, and SQL, and a working knowledge of HTML and JavaScript.
• Version Control:Experience with distributed version control software such as Git and Bitbucket.
• Platform Knowledge:Experience developing software on a UNIX command line platform.
• Teamwork:Strong communication skills that enable proactive and effective collaboration with a virtual team.
• Location:This position is primarily remote, butregular, on-site support at Scott AFB, IL or Ft. Meade, MD is mandatory for periodic project milestones.Candidates must have reliable transportation and the capability to report on-site to their designated facility within a reasonable timeframe when requested by management.

What We Want (Desired):

• Certifications:Obtaining aCompTIA Security+certification (or equivalent DoD 8570 IAT II certification) before the start date isstrongly encouraged.
• Hands-On Experience:Full software lifecycle experience (design, development, test, deployment), especially in a containerized environment (Kubernetes/Docker).
• Familiarity with:
  • Web development using UI frameworks like React.
  • Designing and building DevOps pipelines with tools like Bitbucket, Jenkins, and Ansible.
  • Developing software in a cloud environment (AWS is a plus).
  • Atlassian tools, including JIRA and Confluence.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and concepts (large language models, predictive analytics) to support the development of self-healing and auto-ticketing capabilities.

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:August 26, 2026Pay Range:Pay Range $48,100.00 - $86,950.00

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.