Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Autonomous Airpower

About the role

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold.

Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

About the Job

Anduril is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to join the Autonomous Airpower manufacturing team in Costa Mesa, California. You will lead the development and implementation of complex manufacturing processes from concept to production for autonomous aircraft hardware.

This role spans the full breadth of manufacturing engineering disciplines and may focus on one or more of the following areas depending on your background: structures and composites, mechanical systems (landing gear, doors, actuators), fluid systems (hydraulic, fuel, pneumatic), propulsion integration, avionics, or harnessing and electrical integration.

At this level, you operate independently and own outcomes for your subsystems with full accountability. You lead multiple high-impact projects simultaneously, drive technical decisions that shape how hardware gets built, and serve as a technical resource and mentor for the broader ME team. You bring deep manufacturing engineering expertise, a track record of designing and executing process improvements that deliver measurable results, and the ability to establish engineering standards and best practices from the ground up.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the development and implementation of complex manufacturing processes from concept to production for autonomous aircraft subsystems
• Own the manufacturing value chain end-to-end for your subsystems — from DFM input through process development, work instruction authoring, tooling definition, and production support
• Design and execute process improvements that optimize workflow and increase production capacity across your subsystems
• Develop technical roadmaps for manufacturing technology advancement aligned with program and business objectives
• Establish engineering standards and best practices that become benchmarks for the ME organization
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective action (RCCA) for manufacturing non-conformances, driving systemic fixes rather than one-off dispositions
• Manage capital expenditure projects from justification through implementation and validation, controlling project budgets and delivering on time
• Drive production readiness activities including MBOMs, process capability assessments, and rate-readiness planning
• Lead cross-functional teams to resolve complex manufacturing issues spanning engineering, supply chain, quality, and production
• Mentor and develop junior and mid-level manufacturing engineers, serving as a technical escalation point for complex manufacturing issues

What We're Looking for

• 7+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware production environments
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering or equivalent hands-on manufacturing experience
• Demonstrated ownership of manufacturing processes end-to-end — from process development through production support
• Track record of leading process improvements that delivered measurable gains in quality, throughput, or cost
• Experience managing capital projects and production budgets
• Proficiency with CAD tools (CATIA, SolidWorks, NX, or equivalent) and production planning systems (ERP, MES, PLM)
• Strong DFM/DFA instincts — demonstrated ability to influence design decisions for manufacturability
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and mentoring engineers
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in one or more of the following: composite structures, mechanical systems (landing gear, flight controls, doors), fluid systems (hydraulic, fuel, pneumatic), propulsion, avionics integration, or wire harness manufacturing
• Experience transitioning hardware from prototype or first-article builds to rate production
• Experience with aircraft or autonomous vehicle assembly
• Knowledge of AS9100, aerospace quality systems, and non-conformance management processes
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or structured continuous improvement methodologies
• Experience working with Teamcenter, SAP, Oracle, or similar PLM/ERP platforms
• Active U.S. Secret security clearance

Per Anduril's expansion plans, we anticipate this job will be based out of Long Beach, CA beginning late 2027.

Pay and benefits

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

Benefits

• At Anduril, we invest in our people.
• Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next.
• For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

• No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.
• Please always verify communications:
• Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.
• Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to.
• Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.
• What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to. Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.

Data Privacy

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process.

This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency.

Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.