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 a 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.