Engineering Program Manager

Leidos Holding$131K — $237K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree with 8+ years of engineering management experience, including 3+ years as a second-line manager.
  • Experience building and scaling engineering organizations of 75+ personnel in a matrixed environment.
  • Expertise in workforce planning, headcount forecasting, and organizational design.
  • Governance of engineering talent acquisition, including requisition strategies and hiring decisions.
  • Experience managing engineering managers and enhancing their management capabilities.
  • Skills in resource allocation and capacity management across multiple engineering teams.
  • Budget management experience with labor cost forecasting and variance analysis.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as second-line engineering manager for an Agile Release Train of approximately 110 personnel, managing 4-6 People Managers.
  • Own workforce planning and organizational design for the ART.
  • Drive engineering staffing decisions, including hiring priorities and requisition development.
  • Manage the engineering talent pipeline to ensure skill coverage and succession depth.
  • Oversee career development strategies for engineering managers.
  • Govern performance management across the ART, ensuring equitable evaluation standards.
  • Champion an AI-first engineering culture by integrating AI-assisted development capabilities.

Benefits

  • Hybrid work environment requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days remote per week.
  • Opportunity to impact projects affecting millions of air travelers.
  • Contribution to a growing program with potential for career advancement.
Full Job Description

Leidos is seeking an Engineering Program Manager (EPM) to join the Air Traffic Business Area within the Homeland Sector, supporting the development of the Leidos Common Automation Platform (L-CAP). L-CAP is a mission-critical, future-ready automation platform built on a hybrid cloud data mesh architecture, enabling next-generation air traffic management capabilities. As a second-line engineering manager, you will serve as the matrix leader for engineering management across an Agile Release Train of approximately 110 personnel — managing the People Managers who lead engineering teams, and owning workforce planning, organizational design, and engineering talent strategy for your ART. You report to the Chief Engineering Program Manager. We are building with an AI-first engineering mindset, embracing emerging AI capabilities and modern development practices to accelerate delivery, improve software quality, and continuously evolve how we design and build mission-critical systems. This position supports government programs and requires the ability to obtain andmaintaina favorable Public Trust investigation.

This role is part of a growing program, and hiring will depend on available funding. We review applications on a rolling basis, but the timeline for interviews and offers may vary. In some cases, we may extendcontingent offersthat become active once funding is confirmed.

This position is located inGaithersburg, MD; Egg Harbor Township, NJ; or Eagan, MN. This is an opportunity to contribute to projects that impact millions of air travelers.

This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days onsite and 2 days remote work. Candidates should reside a commutable distance to one of the above locations.

What Youll Do

  • Serve as second-line engineering manager for an ART of ~110 personnel, directly managing 4 6 People Managers who lead engineering teams

  • Own workforce planning and organizational design for the ART including team structure, headcount allocation, and skill mix optimization

  • Drive engineering staffing decisions including hiring priorities, requisition development, and candidate selection governance

  • Manage engineering talent pipeline ensuring the ARTmaintainsadequate bench strength, succession depth, and critical-skill coverage

  • Oversee career development strategy for engineering managers, ensuring People Managers are equipped to grow andretaintheir teams

  • Govern performance management across the ART 6 calibrate ratings, align recognition, and ensureequitableevaluation standards

  • Make cross-team resource allocation and rotation decisions to balance workload, develop talent, and address skill gaps

  • Partner with the RTE and ART Product Manager on capacity planning, ensuring staffing aligns with delivery priorities

  • Own engineering headcount budget and labor forecasting for the ART, coordinating with program finance on variance and projections

  • Drive retention strategy including compensation alignment, engagement initiatives, and attrition risk mitigation

  • Manage organizational change including team restructuring, role transitions, and onboarding/offboarding of engineering personnel

  • Align engineering workforce composition with modernization priorities ensuring critical skill sets are developed andretainedas legacyexpertisetransitions to cloud-native competencies

  • Develop workforce transition plans supporting engineering personnel reskilling from legacy ATC systems to modern distributed service architectures

  • Coordinate engineering resource strategy across ART boundaries ensuring program-wide workforce balance and avoiding single-point-of-failure dependencies

  • Champion an AI-first engineering culture byidentifyingand applying AI-assisted development capabilities, automation, and emerging software engineering practices that improve developer productivity, code quality, testing, and delivery.

Core Technical Qualifications:

  • Bachelors degree with 8+ years of engineering management experience including 3+ years as a second-line manager (managing managers)

  • Demonstrated experience building, scaling, and retaining engineering organizations of 75+ personnel in a matrixed environment

  • Workforce planningexpertiseincluding headcount forecasting, skill gap analysis, and organizational design

  • Engineering talent acquisition governance including requisition strategy, interview processes, and hiring decisions

  • Performance management at scale including calibration, promotion governance, and compensation planning

  • Experience managing engineering managers and developing management capability within technical organizations

  • Resource allocation and capacity management across multiple concurrent engineering teams

  • Budget management including labor cost forecasting, variance analysis, and headcount planning

  • Effective stakeholder management across program leadership, HR business partners, and talent acquisition

  • Ability to obtain andmaintaina Public Trust clearance; US citizenshiprequired; subject to government background investigation

  • Experience managing workforce transitions in software-intensive modernization programs including skill migration and team restructuring

  • Understanding of engineering competency frameworks and career ladder design for software and systems engineering disciplines

  • Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust

  • U.S. citizenship required

  • Successful completion of background investigations as required by the government customer

Preferred / Desired Qualifications

  • Aviation, FAA, or defense sector engineering management experience

  • SAFeor Agile organizational leadership experience (Lean Portfolio Management, Agile HR)

  • Experience leading engineering organizations through technology transformation (legacy to cloud-native)

  • Technical background in software or systems engineering providing credibility with engineering staff

  • Talent development program design including mentoring frameworks, rotation programs, and technical leadership pipelines

  • Matrix organization leadership with influence across functional and delivery boundaries

  • Experience with engineering workforce analytics, retention modeling, and engagement measurement

  • Familiarity with government contract staffing constraints including labor category alignment and clearance requirements

Pay Range:


Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

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.

About Leidos Holding

Leidos Holding Careers

Joining Leidos Holding presents an unparalleled opportunity to advance one's career with a leader in innovation and technology. The company offers a plethora of job opportunities aimed at fostering professional growth and development in a diverse and inclusive environment.

Explore Career Opportunities

Leidos Holding is actively seeking skilled professionals who are passionate about leveraging their expertise to drive innovation and leadership in their fields. With a variety of open positions, Leidos Holding provides a platform for individuals to challenge themselves in a dynamic work environment.

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At Leidos Holding, innovation is at the core of everything they do. Employees are encouraged to think creatively and push boundaries. The company supports this drive for innovation through comprehensive professional development and diversity training programs that are designed to enhance skills and foster leadership.

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Leidos Holding is committed to creating a workplace where diversity is not only recognized but celebrated. With a culture that values and promotes diversity, Leidos Holding ensures that all team members have the opportunity to contribute, learn, and grow.

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For those starting their career, Leidos Holding offers internship programs that provide a robust foundation in the industry. Internships are a great way to develop essential skills, gain valuable work experience, and build professional networks.

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Employees at Leidos Holding enjoy a range of benefits designed to support their professional and personal lives. The company culture is built on a foundation of respect and integrity, providing a supportive and collaborative environment where every team member is valued.

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