Lead Manufacturing Engineer, High-Speed Missiles

Lead Manufacturing Engineer, High-Speed Missiles

Costa Mesa, California, United States

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 Role

As the Lead Manufacturing Engineer for High-Speed Missiles, you will be the driving force behind the industrialization of our hypersonic missile programs. You will bridge the gap between cutting-edge physics and high-rate industrial output, transforming highly complex, next-generation vehicles into manufacturable, repeatable, and rapidly scalable products. This is a high-visibility, high-ownership leadership role. You will support hypersonic products from the early design phase, establish the core manufacturing processes, and lead the production ramp from prototype to rate. The diverse responsibilities of this role will require you to leverage both your deep technical expertise and your leadership skills to set strategic objectives, build cross-functional alignment, and drive rapid project execution. You will play a crucial role in optimizing manufacturing processes, reducing costs, and increasing efficiencies while ensuring our manufacturing line is built to scale from day one.

What You'll Do

• Lead the Charge: Act as the primary manufacturing leader for the hypersonic program, setting the execution strategy, managing production timelines, and driving cross-functional teams to hit critical milestones.
• Drive Early NPI & DFM: Collaborate directly with design engineering leadership during early development phases to push aggressive Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) requirements.
• Architect the Factory of the Future: Design, commission, and scale the physical work centers, advanced assembly lines, and factory layouts specifically tailored for hypersonic vehicles.
• Pioneer Advanced Processes: Establish robust manufacturing methods for exotic materials, advanced composite structures, thermal protection systems (TPS), and high-performance propulsion integration.
• Own Tooling & Capital Equipment: Identify capital equipment needs and lead the design, procurement, and qualification of custom assembly tooling and automated equipment.
• Bridge Design and the Shop Floor: Serve as the technical authority on the floor, unblocking production bottlenecks, resolving complex engineering anomalies, and driving continuous improvement initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Educational Background: B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or a related STEM discipline.
• Senior Technical & NPI Ownership: Strong hands-on hardware manufacturing experience acting as a technical anchor, product owner, or project lead for a complex aerospace, defense, or high-technology product line coupled with a proven track record of owning a clean-sheet NPI product, complex manufacturing process, or critical system from cradle to grave.
• Strategic DFM & Cross-Functional Influence: Proven ability to influence design engineering decisions to adopt aggressive Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) principles, ensuring design maturity aligns with production schedules.
• Technical Mentorship & Peer Leadership: Experience guiding, mentoring, and unblocking peer engineers. Ability to act as a technical sounding board, drive consensus on complex engineering challenges, and lead project execution without needing formal organizational authority.
• Travel: Willingness to travel occasionally (<10%) to support global manufacturing operations.
• U.S. Person Status: Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.
• Clearance Status: Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Security clearance.
• YoE: 8+ years of experience working in manufacturing or related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hypersonics Experience: Direct experience working on hypersonic vehicles, scramjets, rocket propulsion, thermal protection systems (TPS), or high-temperature structures/materials is highly valued.
• Aerospace & Defense Domain Expertise: Experience working on complex aerospace systems, tactical missiles, launch vehicles, satellites, or high-performance automotive platforms.
• Program & Schedule Management: Strong ability to manage program schedules, identify critical path risks, and coordinate cross-functionally with Supply Chain, Quality, Test, and Program Management to ensure on-time delivery.

US Salary Range $146,000 - $194,000 USD

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: