Director of Advanced Capabilities

Anduril Industries • Costa Mesa, CA

9h • Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Director of Advanced Capabilities to join our rapidly growing team in Costa Mesa, CA or Washington, D.C. In this role, you will serve as the critical bridge between cutting-edge engineering and real-world naval warfare. You will lead the team that defines how Anduril's autonomous maritime systems — operating collaboratively, across domains, and at scale — change the calculus of modern naval warfare. The ideal candidate possesses a rare combination of military operational expertise, analytical rigor, and corporate strategic vision. You are as comfortable discussing high-fidelity mission modeling with software engineers as you are discussing operational concepts with senior military commanders.

Requirements

• Exceptional Leadership & Gravitas: Proven ability to command a room, build trust, and communicate complex concepts to stakeholders ranging from software engineers to 4-star Admirals.
• Strategic & Analytical Experience: 10+ years of experience in defense strategy, operational planning, operational analysis, systems engineering or related technical fields.
• Technical Literacy: Strong grasp of analysis, modeling and simulation (M&S) tools, or operational research methodologies.
• Defense Ecosystem Knowledge: Deep understanding of Joint and naval warfare, the maritime domain, and the defense acquisition lifecycle.
• Deep analytical experience: Demonstrated experience building or leading a modeling, simulation, and wargaming capability — constructive simulation, operational analysis, and campaign/mission modeling — with the ability to defend methodology and assumptions to both engineering and senior operational audiences.
• Autonomy : Deep understanding of autonomous and collaboratively autonomous systems, manned-unmanned teaming, and integrated cross-domain (joint) effects — with the ability to translate the operational advantages of scale, attritability, and software-defined autonomy into warfighting concepts.
• Education: Degree or Post Grad degree in Operations Research and Statistics.
• Security Clearance: Currently possesses and is able to maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Military Service: Prior military experience or active-duty operational background, with first-hand experience in tactical planning, mission execution, or maritime defense systems.
• Maritime Domain Expertise: Direct experience working in maritime or naval environments, with specific knowledge of undersea warfare (USW), Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW), mine countermeasures (MCM), maritime domain awareness (MDA), counter-targeting and related missions.
• Technical / Software Background: Experience with software development, systems engineering, or digital engineering tools to help drive the development of internal analytical tools and product design concepts.

Responsibilities

• Drive Warfighting Capability Analysis & CONOP development: Lead warfighting capability analysis across the Maritime Division. Author the tactical "playbook"—defining Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) for manned and unmanned platforms, and employment strategies for how operators will utilize Anduril’s maritime products.
• Bridge the Gap Between Tech & Tactics: Distill complex operational research and threat analysis into clear, prioritized capability needs for engineering teams, ensuring product development solves real-world operational problems.
• Conduct Future Threat Studies: Lead forward-looking studies to project operational challenges years into the future, identifying capability gaps and defining what new products Anduril must develop to help customers maintain overmatch.
• Act as Chief Translator & Briefer: Serve as the primary operational interlocutor for customers. Lead high-level briefings, mission modeling reviews, guide wargaming scenarios and Virtual Reality (VR) tactical demonstrations.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with the Head of Growth, maritime General Managers, and Maritime leadership to align business development strategies with technical roadmaps and operational problems.
• Lead & Scale a World-Class Team: Manage, mentor, and grow a global team of warfighting capability analysts. Develop modern analytical tools, modeling methodologies, and wargaming approaches that lead the operational analysis field and drive Anduril’s product development.
• Define Integrated Effects: Lead cross-domain analysis spanning sub-surface, surface, air, and the broader joint kill web — defining how Anduril maritime systems contribute to integrated effects beyond any single domain.

Benefits

• 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 .

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director