Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead

Leidos Holding$107K — $195K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, logistics, systems engineering, or related field and 8 years of relevant experience.
  • 2+ years in a leadership or supervisory role.
  • Experience in sustainment engineering, logistics engineering, or systems engineering.
  • Background in supporting complex technical programs, particularly in defense or aerospace.
  • Knowledge of lifecycle sustainment and logistics support concepts.

Responsibilities

  • Lead, mentor, and develop sustainment engineering personnel across multiple programs.
  • Oversee sustainment engineering work to understand program requirements and workforce needs.
  • Manage employee performance and professional development within the team.
  • Ensure the sustainment engineering capability evolves with business requirements.
  • Identify skills and capacity gaps to support staffing and workforce planning decisions.
  • Develop and enhance sustainment engineering processes and standards.
  • Integrate reliability and supportability considerations into system design and program decisions.

Benefits

  • Opportunity for professional growth and skills development.
  • Involvement in leading innovative sustainment engineering practices.
  • Strong emphasis on workforce development and training.
  • A collaborative work environment that spans multiple functions and programs.
  • Exposure to high-stakes defense and aerospace projects.
Full Job Description
The Logistics & Sustainment Department is seeking an experienced Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead to lead and develop the department's sustainment engineering capability while directly supporting program execution.

This is a first-level managerial position responsible for workforce leadership, capability development, program support, and integration of sustainment engineering practices across supported programs. The manager will lead sustainment engineering personnel, develop common processes and standards, build workforce proficiency, and ensure the capability remains aligned with current and emerging program requirements.

The position operates within a matrix environment. Programs retain responsibility for program requirements, priorities, technical direction, cost, and schedule. The Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead provides functional and people leadership for the sustainment engineering discipline and works closely with program leadership to ensure qualified personnel, effective processes, and appropriate capabilities are available to meet program needs.

Primary Responsibilities - The Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead will:
• Lead, manage, develop, and mentor sustainment engineering personnel supporting multiple programs.
• Perform and oversee direct sustainment engineering work to maintain an understanding of program requirements, workload, technical challenges, and workforce needs.
• Manage employee performance, development, objectives, workload alignment, and professional growth.
• Lead the department's sustainment engineering capability and ensure it evolves with program and business requirements.
• Assess workforce capacity, skills, experience, and future demand to identify capability gaps and support hiring and staffing decisions.
• Develop, integrate, and continuously improve sustainment engineering processes, methods, templates, tools, and standards.
• Establish and maintain the People, Process, and Training required for an effective sustainment engineering capability.
• Support development of sustainment strategies beginning early in the system lifecycle and continuing through fielding, operations, and sustainment.
• Integrate reliability, maintainability, availability, supportability, maintenance, supply support, technical data, training, facilities, support equipment, and other sustainment considerations into system and program decisions.
• Lead or oversee sustainment analyses supporting maintenance concepts, sparing, support equipment, manpower, training, lifecycle cost, readiness, and support strategies.
• Work across engineering, product support, provisioning, technical publications, training, field services, depot operations, program management, and other disciplines to integrate end-to-end logistics.
• Participate in design and technical reviews to ensure sustainment considerations are identified early enough to influence system design and lifecycle decisions.
• Establish peer review and quality-control practices for sustainment engineering products.
• Support development and review of contract deliverables and program documentation requiring sustainment engineering input.
• Identify opportunities to use data, digital tools, automation, and analytics to improve sustainment planning and decision-making.
• Support recruiting, interviewing, selection, onboarding, development, and succession planning for sustainment engineering personnel.
• Provide department and program leadership visibility of workforce capacity, capability health, execution risks, and opportunities for improvement.

Capability Leadership - The Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead is accountable for three primary areas:

1. People: Build and develop the sustainment engineering workforce through leadership, coaching, performance management, workforce planning, recruiting, succession planning, and deliberate professional development.

2. Process: Establish repeatable and scalable sustainment engineering practices that improve quality and consistency while allowing programs to retain appropriate technical authority and program-specific requirements.

3. Training: Identify workforce development requirements, establish learning pathways, share lessons learned, and build proficiency in the technical methods, systems, and tools required to support current and future programs.

Minimum Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, logistics, systems engineering, or a related technical discipline and a minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience. Additional relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree where permitted by company requirements.
• Minimum of 2 years of demonstrated leadership, supervisory, team lead, or people-management experience.
• Demonstrated experience in sustainment engineering, logistics engineering, systems engineering, integrated product support, or a closely related discipline.
• Experience supporting complex defense, aerospace, weapons system, or similarly technical programs through development, production, fielding, or sustainment.
• Working knowledge of lifecycle sustainment, maintenance planning, reliability and maintainability, supportability analysis, readiness, and logistics support concepts.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical personnel and balance workforce development with program execution requirements.
• Experience working in a matrix organization or an environment requiring coordination across program, functional, and technical leadership.
• Ability to communicate technical and sustainment issues clearly to engineering, program, and senior leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, develop personnel, resolve competing requirements, and deliver quality products within established cost and schedule constraints.
• US Citizenship and ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications
• 10 or more years of relevant sustainment engineering, logistics engineering, systems engineering, or product support experience.
• Previous formal supervisory or management experience.
• Experience supporting Department of Defense acquisition and sustainment programs.
• Experience integrating sustainment requirements during system design and development.
• Experience with reliability, availability, maintainability, lifecycle cost, maintenance task analysis, sparing, or other quantitative sustainment analyses.
• Experience developing or implementing organizational processes, technical standards, training programs, or workforce development strategies.
• Familiarity with digital engineering, data analytics, enterprise business systems, and visualization tools supporting sustainment decisions.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary or geographically dispersed personnel.
• Experience supporting proposal development, basis of estimate development, staffing plans, or new business activities.

Key Outputs - The Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead will be expected to:
• Develop, Integrate, and Deliver ahead of schedule whenever program conditions allow.
• Build and maintain a capable, engaged, and appropriately staffed sustainment engineering workforce.
• Improve the quality and consistency of sustainment engineering products across programs.
• Increase early integration of sustainment considerations into engineering and program decisions.
• Establish repeatable processes that can be applied and scaled across the department.
• Develop personnel capable of independently supporting increasingly complex program requirements.
• Improve visibility of sustainment risks, requirements, workforce capacity, and lifecycle impacts.
• Strengthen integration among engineering, product support, field services, depot operations, and the broader logistics enterprise.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this managerial position requires more than producing sustainment analysis. The Sustainment Engineer Capability Lead must develop the people, institutionalize effective processes, strengthen technical capability, and deliver program results simultaneously.

The manager will build an enduring sustainment engineering capability that enables better lifecycle decisions, develops stronger professionals, and establishes repeatable practices that continue to mature as programs and customer requirements evolve.

The objective is to ensure sustainment engineering is integrated early, remains connected to program execution, and contributes directly to Deliver Ready Systems, Integrate End-to-End Logistics, Precision Sustainment, and the development of cohesive, high-performing teams.

Original Posting:
September 10, 2026

Pay 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.

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