Lead Software Engineer at Leidos
Huntsville, AL
$87,100–$157,450from the description
Aug 4, 2026
Huntsville, AL
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A lead software developer role on a defense-focused modeling and simulation team, primarily writing C++ and C# to solve problems in electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) sensor characterization, simulation, data analysis, and algorithm development. The candidate will work across multiple concurrent projects alongside engineers and scientists, contributing to both Windows and Linux environments, and must be able to obtain a DoD security clearance.
Senior level · 4+ years · Huntsville, AL · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $130,897 (middle half $102,526–$165,828). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 5, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
The title 'lead software developer' carries no explicit seniority level word (Junior/Mid/Senior/Staff/Principal), so advertised seniority is Unspecified. The 4–8 year experience range and lead-level scope support a Senior classification.
The clearance gate is 'must be able to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance' — the ability to obtain is the hard requirement. The preferred qualifications mention SECRET or TS/SCI as a plus, so the minimum gate is set at Secret (obtainable).
C# appears in the Basic Qualifications section as part of the primary language set ('write software using primarily C++ and C#'), making it a hard gate alongside C++. The Preferred section separately calls out 'intermediate ability in C#', which is consistent with it being a baseline requirement.
Windows and Linux familiarity are stated in the Basic Qualifications as a hard requirement ('familiarity with software development for both Windows and Linux OS').
Python, CMake, CUDA, and AI/ML appear only under Preferred Qualifications and are not required gates.
EO/IR phenomenology, image processing, and Kalman filtering are domain knowledge areas listed as preferred interests, not concrete named technologies — omitted per extraction rules.
GPU programming is listed as a preferred interest but names no specific tool beyond CUDA, which is captured separately.
The pay range ($87,100–$157,450/year) is described as a general guideline, not a guarantee.
Requires a Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
The employer publishes the full description on their own site — read it there ↗. Or sign in to read it here — it's free, and it also lets you track this application.