Senior R&D Software Developer Jobs in Columbia, MD

What if the software you developed directly enabled some of the nation's most critical missions? As a Senior Software Developer, you'll do more than write exceptional code, you'll help build innovative, secure, and scalable solutions that support Intelligence Community operations. If you're passionate about modern software engineering, enjoy collaborating in Agile teams, and thrive on solving complex technical challenges, Leidos wants to hear from you. On the Maru Program, you’ll join a high-performing team where your ideas are valued, your technical expertise is trusted, and your work has a tangible impact. Working alongside software engineers, architects, DevSecOps engineers, cybersecurity professionals, and mission stakeholders, you'll develop next-generation applications that deliver mission‑critical capabilities in a fast‑paced Agile environment. This is your opportunity to build cutting‑edge software while contributing to work that truly matters.

Please note Gaithersburg, MD is the program’s primary work location.

Clearance Level Required: Active Top Secret/SCI with the ability to successfully pass a Polygraph examination.

As a Senior Software Developer, you'll play a key role in designing, developing, testing, and deploying secure, scalable applications that support enterprise and mission operations.

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain enterprise software applications using modern development practices.
• Collaborate with Product Owners, Scrum Masters, architects, and fellow developers to deliver high-quality software in Agile sprints.
• Participate in sprint planning, backlog refinement, daily stand‑ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Develop clean, maintainable, and well‑documented code following secure coding standards and best practices.
• Design and implement RESTful APIs, microservices, and distributed application architectures.
• Perform code reviews and mentor junior developers to promote engineering excellence and knowledge sharing.
• Troubleshoot complex application issues and perform root cause analysis to improve system reliability and performance.
• Develop automated unit, integration, and end‑to‑end tests to ensure software quality.
• Collaborate with DevSecOps teams to implement CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment processes.
• Optimize application performance, scalability, and security across enterprise environments.
• Participate in architecture discussions and contribute to technical roadmaps and modernization initiatives.
• Support production deployments and resolve issues in mission‑critical environments.

• US citizenship is required per contract.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field and 8-12 years of prior relevant experience or Master’s with 6-10 years of prior relevant experience.
• 8+ years of professional software development experience.
• Strong proficiency in one or more object-oriented programming languages such as: Java C# Python C++.
• Experience developing web-based applications and enterprise software solutions.
• Experience designing and consuming REST APIs.
• Experience working with relational and/or NoSQL databases.
• Strong understanding of object-oriented design principles and software design patterns.
• Experience using Git or other distributed version control systems.
• Experience working within Agile Scrum or SAFe development environments.
• Excellent analytical, debugging, and problem‑solving skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Experience developing cloud‑native applications in AWS, Azure, or other cloud platforms.
• Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience building microservices architectures.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps practices and CI/CD tools including Jenkins, GitLab CI, or Azure DevOps.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools such as Terraform or Ansible.
• Knowledge of message brokers such as Kafka or RabbitMQ.
• Experience with front-end frameworks such as React, Angular, or Vue.js.
• Familiarity with Elasticsearch, Redis, or other enterprise technologies.
• Experience with secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC) practices.
• Security+ certification or other DoD 8570/8140 compliant certification.

#Maru #NSBA

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.

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.

Original Posting: August 6, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

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 here.

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.

Securing Your Data Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. And Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address. If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to spam.leidos@leidos.com.

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 $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.