If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, then keep reading because Leidos is seeking a qualified System Architect / Technical Lead to support the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Center for Information Technology (CIT), Business Applications Services (BAS) Program under the Enterprise Application Modernization and Support Services (EAMSS) contract. The successful candidate will provide overall technical direction and architectural ownership for an assigned BAS enterprise application program (e.g., NED, NEES, ITAS, SAAVI, FOIA, NIH Web Services, FMG Apps, or Web Apps), implementing system architecture using modern engineering best practices while leading the contractor technical team responsible for that system.
*This position is onsite/hybrid remote. Candidates must be located within commuting distance of
Bethesda, MD, and be available to work on-site at NIH federally controlled facilities as directed by the Government Program Manager.
Key Responsibilities:- Implement and own the system architecture for an assigned BAS program using industry best practices, providing overall technical direction for the contractor team, including coding, unit testing, design patterns, and evaluation of new technologies.
- Work with system owners, business owners, technical teams, and functional teams to design, implement, test, and validate the assigned system, and provide architectural support and advice across all system components.
- Provide technical direction to the contract team, including application developers, database developers, testers, and business analysts, and mentor junior team members.
- Design and develop new code and/or support operations, maintenance, and enhancement of existing code, including conceptual and technical design using object-oriented analysis and design (OOA/OOD) techniques.
- Develop and maintain the system's Architecture Plan, documenting technical architecture, interconnections, data, application, infrastructure, security, and metadata, and update it with every major release.
- Review and sign off on the contract team's requirements analysis, design, development, and testing deliverables during each release cycle, and oversee all implementation and deployment activities.
- Engage the CIT Architecture Review Board (ARB) process early in the planning phase for modernization initiatives, major enhancements, cloud migration efforts, and new development, preparing and presenting architectural documentation and incorporating ARB feedback into the Architecture Plan and Software Design Document prior to implementation.
- Assess and analyze change requests, defects, and other technical tasks, and provide level-of-effort estimates; support release planning, scheduling, and task assignments.
- Effectively model the program's business processes and integrate them with existing NIH enterprise systems and capabilities, in coordination with the BAS technology stack owned by Development Support Services (DSS).
- Lead re-architecture and modernization efforts as directed, including migration of legacy/monolithic systems to microservices or cloud-native architectures, and integration of cloud-native services (managed databases, queuing, containerization/orchestration).
- Apply and champion DevSecOps and cloud-native architecture as delivery baselines, and support the evaluation, adoption, and governance of AI-assisted development and intelligent automation tools as they are approved and provisioned by the Government.
- Ensure high quality of technical deliverables; submit incident reports and lessons learned when requested, and support Systems Assurance / Authority to Operate (ATO) documentation as it pertains to system architecture and security controls.
- Provide assessment, consultation, and recommendations for future technical initiatives and upgrades, and support the Project Manager in identifying opportunities to consolidate support activities, standardize code modules, and apply automation to reduce manual effort and cost.
Basic Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of experience in technical leadership of a software development or engineering team, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Additional years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
- Minimum 8 years of experience in system integration and development and package implementations.
- Minimum 3 years of experience on IT projects of similar size and complexity with the same or similar technology.
- Experience with cloud computing and cloud-based technologies.
- Solid understanding of all phases of software engineering (requirements, design, implementation, testing) and the Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC).
- Demonstrated ability to work with system owners, business owners, and stakeholders to elicit and document requirements.
- Ability to learn new technologies quickly and lead a team in analyzing and adopting them, including AI-assisted and cloud-native delivery practices.
- Excellent written and verbal communication and stakeholder-management skills.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Moderate (Tier 2) background investigation, as required by NIH and HHS policy.
- Ability to work on-site at NIH facilities in the Bethesda, Maryland area with the frequency directed by the Government Program Manager.
Preferred Qualifications:- Experience with one or more BAS-relevant technology stacks, such as .NET, Java, IBM Business Automation Workflow (BAW), MuleSoft, or Microsoft Power Platform.
- Prior experience directly supporting NIH, another HHS operating division, or a comparable federal health/regulatory science agency.
- Experience presenting to and obtaining approval from a formal Architecture Review Board (ARB) or comparable enterprise architecture governance body.
- Experience with DevSecOps toolchains, CI/CD pipelines, containerization/orchestration platforms, and AI/ML-assisted software development.
- Experience leading modernization or re-architecture efforts, such as migrating monolithic legacy systems to microservices or cloud-native architectures.
- Relevant technical certifications (e.g., AWS/Azure/GCP architecture certifications, TOGAF, or equivalent).
- Master's degree in a related field.
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 17, 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.
