Leidos
Senior Physicist
Reston, VA · Senior
No sponsorship$154k-$278kDetected 4 hours ago
TypeScriptPythonC++CMATLABAlgorithmsMachine LearningData AnalysisStatisticsResearchLeadershipCommunicationProblem SolvingPublic Speaking
> stay_score
odds of building a lasting career here
37Unrated
Cap-exempt (no lottery)0
Sponsors this role0
Entry-level history0
PERM / green-card track0
Lottery odds (Level IV)94
Fits your clock70
No strong sponsorship signal in the public record yet. In the full product we resolve the exact legal entity and show its filing history with a confidence score — treat as unverified until then.
Lottery odds assume a STEM candidate.
Personalize to your clock →> community_outcomes
No reports yet — be the first to help the next applicant.
About the role
- The ideal candidate demonstrates strong scientific curiosity, sound physical intuition, excellent mathematical skills, and a commitment to continuous learning.
- Characterize Hardened Facilities: Analyze structural, material, and functional attributes of adversary underground and hardened facilities using advanced physics principles and empirical data.
Responsibilities
- Investigate and characterize the mechanics, vulnerabilities, and physics governing adversary effects, networks, and delivery processes in order to develop physics-based models, simulations, and analysis algorithms that support National Defense applications.
- Design, refine, and validate physics-based computational models and simulations to identify critical structural weaknesses and viable exploitation vectors.
- Research, design, and evaluate innovative approaches for High-speed flow phenomenology, detection, characterization, and data exploitation.
- Perform data analysis, model validation, uncertainty assessment, and performance characterization for algorithms and systems.
- Create efficient implementations of scientific algorithms in MATLAB, Python, or similar high-level languages.
- Deliver comprehensive technical assessments, simulation frameworks, and vulnerability briefings to senior defense leadership and interagency stakeholders.
- Experience developing, analyzing, or validating physics-based models, simulations, or scientific algorithms.
- Experience programming in C/C++ or developing efficient production-quality scientific software.
Requirements
- Typically requires Ph.D. or Master's degree in Physics, Applied Physics, Geophysics, Structural Engineering-Physics, or a closely related quantitative STEM field with over 15 years of relevant experience.
- Relevant experience is defined as research, development, or technical analysis experience within a defense or security context.
- Ability to translate physical concepts into algorithms, simulations, and quantitative analyses.
- Proven track record of innovation, technical problem solving, and achieving results in a research or engineering environment.
Nice to have
- Prior experience supporting DTRA, DIA, Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), or USSOCOM counter-threat missions.
- Comfortable with public speaking and/or customer presentations. #ASBA If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling.
- 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.
Skills
- Leidos is seeking a Senior Physicist who thrives in research, algorithm development, modeling, simulation, and implementation.
Compensation
- Pay Range $154,050.00 - $278,475.00 The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary.
- Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $17.2 billion for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026.
- 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.
Benefits
- Experience with statistical analysis, estimation theory, optimization, machine learning, or uncertainty quantification.
Company info
- Interface directly with customers and other stake holders to align scientific findings with national security priorities.
- At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it.
- Leidos Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations.
- Design experiments consistent with numerical simulation validation in order to optimize application of both techniques Document methods, results, and assumptions clearly for technical peers, program leadership, and customers.
Visa & Work Authorization
- Citizenship is required Candidate must possess an active TS/SCI, or a Top Secret clearance with a current SSBI, and be eligible to obtain a TS/SCI w/ poly level clearance Requires highest kno
This listing is sourced directly from Leidos's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.