Software engineer intern

Join Leidos’ mission-focused engineering team and build real software that powers data analytics, computer vision, and AI capabilities for national security customers. At Leidos, we don’t just offer internships - we offer career acceleration. You’ll ship code, learn from experienced engineers and researchers, and see your work used in production.

Primary Responsibilities

• Build and enhance software prototypes, APIs, and microservices that support data analytics, machine learning, and user-facing applications.
• Contribute across the stack: user interfaces and back-end services.
• Write clean, maintainable code with tests; troubleshoot and fix issues.
• Participate in design sessions, code reviews, and agile ceremonies.
• Research and evaluate new technologies; present findings and recommendations.
• Collaborate with software/system engineers and research/data scientists in areas like multi-modal information retrieval, UI engineering, metrics, computer vision, and autonomous systems.

Basic Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s program in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or a closely related field.
• Experience in at least one of: Python, Java, or C++.
• Must be U.S. Citizen
• Eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance. Leidos will guide you through the clearance process.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building prototypes or applications (class, club, hackathon, research, or personal projects).
• Exposure to data engineering or analytics: data cleansing, transformation, feature engineering, or exploratory analysis.
• Familiarity with one or more of the following:
• Tools: Git/GitHub, VS Code or similar IDEs, Jupyter Notebooks.
• Backend: REST APIs, microservices, SQL (PostgreSQL/MySQL), containerization (Docker), basic Linux.
• Frontend: JavaScript/TypeScript, React or similar.
• Data/ML: NumPy/Pandas, scikit-learn; plus for PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Cloud and CI/CD: AWS/Azure basics, build pipelines.
• Interest in secure software development practices.
• Familiarity with Rust
• Ability to obtain /maintain Top Secret security clearance with polygraph.

Work location and schedule

Arlington, VA. Hybrid: 4 days on-site, 1 day remote per week.
8–10 week internship, target start May/June 2027.

You’ll thrive in this role if you are

• Curious and adaptive—comfortable learning new domains and asking good questions
• Organized and self-directed, while still highly collaborative
• Confident communicating your needs and working as an active team member

How to stand out

Share a link to your GitHub/portfolio and briefly describe a project you’re proud of (what you built, technologies used, and your role). If team-based, clarify your individual contributions. 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: October 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.