Senior Chemical Engineer/Chemist

The Leidos Intelligence Group has an opening for a Chemical Engineer or a Chemist in Reston, Virginia. We are seeking a Senior Chemical Engineer or Chemist to lead reverse engineering analysis on defense industrial programs. You will leverage deep subject matter expertise to evaluate intelligence and open-source reporting, resolve contradictory data, and characterize lifecycles—from precursor development through Research and Develop, production, storage, and deployment. Work will be performed in a fast-paced, high-energy environment inside a government facility.

Primary Responsibility

• Evaluate, contextualize, and deconflict all-source intelligence reporting, open-source data, and IC assessments regarding adversary chemical warfare capabilities in support of a common intelligence picture.
• Conduct technical analysis using chemical engineering and scientific principles to identify and bridge intelligence gaps.
• Characterize the adversary's end-to-end program, specifically detailing component procurement, precursor chemical synthesis, pilot and industrial scale production pathways, storage configurations, weaponization mechanics, and deployment methodologies.
• Evaluate foreign CW/WMD doctrine, strategy, stockpile logistics, and research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) activities.
• Identify and monitor procurement and proliferation (P2) entities, supply chains, and dual-use technology transfers involved in the foreign trade of chemical weapons, CW-related components, and chemical precursors.
• Identify critical CW/WMD programmatic nodes, operational bottlenecks, and system vulnerabilities to support development of actionable concepts of operation and mitigation strategies.
• Produce detailed, executive-level technical assessments and briefings for government leadership and interagency partners.

Qualifications

• TS/SCI Clearance is required to be considered. Must be able to obtain Polygraph.
• Must be a US Citizen
• Requires deep domain knowledge of chemical weapon lifecycles, agent synthesis, process thermodynamics, agent degradation, pilot to industrial-scale equipment, and production plant layouts. Serves as subject matter expert within the technical domain.
• Requires exceptional analytical problem-solving skills; proven ability to synthesize disparate, fragmented technical data through the application of advanced technical principles, theories, and concepts.
• Typically requires BS degree and 12 – 15 years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 10 – 13 years of prior relevant experience.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage senior leadership and clients on technical strategy and results.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of specialized experience in solving DoD engineering and scientific problems.
• Direct experience with military operational planning and the functional defeat of hardened WMD targets.
• Proficiency with chemical process modeling software and data programming languages for dataset analysis.
• Strong working knowledge of standard IC and DoD databases (e.g., MIDB/MARS, TAC, Palantir) and cross-domain intelligence tools.

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:

July 1, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

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.