Successful preparation for a Technical Writer interview at Leidos requires a balanced focus on your technical writing portfolio, your collaborative skills, and your understanding of the defense and government contracting environment. Interviewers are looking for candidates who can demonstrate immediate value, adapt quickly to new technologies, and maintain a high level of professionalism under pressure.

Role-Related Knowledge – You must be ready to discuss your writing process, your familiarity with authoring tools, and your ability to learn complex systems quickly. Be prepared to explain how you translate technical jargon into user-friendly content.

SME Collaboration – A significant portion of your success at Leidos depends on your ability to work with busy engineers and technical leads. You will be evaluated on your communication strategies, active listening skills, and diplomacy when gathering information.

Compliance and Security Awareness – Understanding the importance of security clearances, data handling protocols, and government documentation standards is critical. You should demonstrate a strong commitment to quality assurance and regulatory compliance.

Adaptability and Resilience – Projects and priorities can shift rapidly in government contracting. Interviewers will assess your ability to manage multiple tasks, handle tight deadlines, and remain productive in structured or high-pressure environments.

The interview process for a Technical Writer position at Leidos is designed to be highly efficient, practical, and fast-moving. Depending on the urgency of the hiring need and the specific contract, the entire process—from initial application to a formal offer—can sometimes be completed in a matter of weeks, or even days.

The journey typically begins with an online resume submission, followed by an initial outreach from a recruiter. This initial conversation is focused on verifying your basic qualifications, salary expectations, and, most importantly, your security clearance status or eligibility. If you pass this screen, you will move on to a hiring manager interview, which is often conducted over the phone or via Microsoft Teams. This interview focus is on your technical writing background, your philosophy on documentation, and your career goals.

The final stage usually consists of a panel interview with technical leads, project managers, or team members. This session dives deeper into your tool proficiency, behavioral scenarios, and how you handle real-world documentation challenges. Because Leidos often needs to fill positions quickly to meet contract requirements, candidates frequently report receiving offers very shortly after this final panel interview, followed immediately by the security clearance verification process.

The timeline above outlines the typical progression from your initial application to the final offer stage. Candidates should use this roadmap to pace their preparation, ensuring they have their writing portfolios and security clearance documentation ready early in the process. While the steps are straightforward, the speed of the progression means you must be fully prepared to articulate your experience and value at every stage.

To excel in your interviews at Leidos, you need to understand the core areas where you will be evaluated and how to demonstrate mastery in each.

Technical Writing Methodology & Philosophy

This evaluation area focuses on your fundamental understanding of how to plan, write, and maintain high-quality technical documentation. Interviewers want to see that you follow a structured, repeatable process rather than writing ad-hoc.

Be ready to go over:

• Audience Analysis – How you identify the target reader's technical level, goals, and pain points to tailor your writing style.
• Information Mapping – Your approach to organizing complex information logically, using headings, lists, and visual aids to improve readability.
• Style Guides and Standards – Your experience working with established style guides (e.g., Microsoft Manual of Style, Chicago Manual of Style) to maintain consistency.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Single-source publishing strategies, content reuse methodologies, and managing localized or translated documentation.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you decide whether a step-by-step procedure should be documented as a written list, a flowchart, or a video tutorial?"
• "Describe a time you had to rewrite a poorly structured document. What changes did you make, and why?"

SME Engagement & Project Management

Writers at Leidos rarely have all the information they need at the start of a project. Your ability to build relationships with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and manage your own documentation schedule is crucial.

Be ready to go over:

• Interviewing Techniques – How you prepare for meetings with busy engineers to maximize the value of their time.
• Conflict Resolution – Strategies for handling unresponsive SMEs or resolving conflicting technical inputs from different stakeholders.
• Task Prioritization – Managing multiple documentation deliverables across different projects or release cycles.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "An engineer tells you they don't have time to review your draft before a critical release deadline. How do you handle this situation?"
• "How do you keep track of updates to a software system during a rapid development cycle to ensure your documentation remains accurate?"

Tools, Technology, & Compliance

This area evaluates your hands-on skills with technical writing software and your ability to work within the strict security and regulatory frameworks of government contracting.

Be ready to go over:

• Authoring Tools – Your proficiency with industry-standard tools like Adobe FrameMaker, RoboHelp, MadCap Flare, or MS Word.
• Version Control – Experience using Git, SharePoint, or other document control systems to manage revisions.
• Government Compliance – Understanding of military standards (MIL-STD), Section 508 accessibility guidelines, and security protocols for handling classified data.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe your experience with single-source publishing. How have you used it to generate multiple outputs from a single source file?"
• "What steps do you take to verify that your documentation complies with strict government contract requirements?"

As a Technical Writer at Leidos, your day-to-day work will be dynamic, collaborative, and highly focused on delivering precise, compliant documentation. You will serve as an embedded member of a project team, working alongside systems engineers, software developers, and quality assurance analysts.

Your primary responsibility will be the creation, revision, and maintenance of a wide range of technical documents. This includes user manuals, system administrator guides, installation procedures, test plans, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and training materials. You will be responsible for taking raw technical data, engineering drawings, and software specifications and transforming them into professional, user-friendly documents that meet both internal quality standards and external client requirements.

In addition to writing, you will play an active role in document review cycles and configuration management. This involves participating in peer reviews, managing version control, and ensuring that all documentation is properly archived and accessible within secure networks. You will also be expected to proactively identify gaps in existing documentation and recommend improvements to streamline writing processes and enhance content quality.

To be highly competitive for a Technical Writer position at Leidos, you should meet a combination of technical skills, experience, and professional attributes.

• Must-have skills – Strong command of the English language, excellent proofreading and editing skills, and proficiency with MS Office Suite (especially advanced MS Word formatting). Ability to obtain or maintain a DoD Secret security clearance is typically a mandatory requirement for most positions.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience with XML/DITA, Adobe FrameMaker, RoboHelp, MadCap Flare, or Git. Familiarity with military standards (MIL-STD), defense contracting environments, or Agile software development methodologies is highly advantageous.
• Experience level – Typically requires a Bachelor's degree in Technical Writing, English, Communications, or a related technical field, along with 2–5 years of professional technical writing experience, preferably within a government contracting or defense environment.
• Soft skills – Outstanding interpersonal communication, active listening, proactive problem-solving, and the ability to work effectively under tight deadlines with minimal supervision.