Description
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.
Leidos is seekinga curious and enthusiastic Software Engineer Intern to join our dynamic team in Arlington, VA. This is your opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders in Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, and machine learning while contributing to mission-critical applications. Through hands-on training, teamwork, and exposure to challenging technical work, you'll gain the skills and experience to accelerate your career.
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
Primary Responsibilities
Build and enhance software proto@types, 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 DoD Secret security clearance. Leidos will guide you through the clearance process.
Preferred Qualifications
Hands-on experience building proto@types 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 DoD 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 2026.
Why Leidos
Learn from a diverse team of engineers, data scientists and other professionals building mission-critical systems.
Mentorship, tech talks, and intern cohort events to accelerate your growth.
Real impact: contribute to R&D and production systems supporting customers.
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:
February 26, 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.
Pay Range:
Pay Range $48,100.00 - $86,950.00
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
Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com .
Pay and Benefits
Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available at www.leidos.com/careers/pay-benefits .
Securing Your Data
Beware of fake employment opportunities using Leidos' name. Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information during any part of the employment application process (i.e., ask you for money), nor will Leidos ever advance money as part of the hiring process (i.e., send you a check or money order before doing any work). Further, Leidos will only communicate with you through emails that are generated by the Leidos.com automated system - never from free commercial services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. If you received an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information (e.g., about you or your previous employer), and you are concerned about its legitimacy, please make us aware immediately by emailing us at LeidosCareersFraud@leidos.com .
If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/) .
Commitment to Non-Discrimination
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.
REQNUMBER: R-00177062
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. Leidos will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in accordance with relevant Laws. Leidos is an equal opportunity employer/disability/vet.
