Executive Recruiter

Anduril • Costa Mesa, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Talent Acquisition team is responsible for building the leadership bench that powers Anduril's mission. Executive Recruiting owns the searches that shape the company's most senior hires — the leaders who run Anduril's commercial, operational, financial, legal, and people functions. As Anduril scales from a growth-stage defense technology company into a generational platform, the quality of its SG&A leadership becomes a defining competitive advantage. The Executive Recruiter, SG&A is responsible for running the searches that build this leadership layer, partnering with the C-suite to identify, attract, and close the senior executives who will scale Anduril's corporate functions to match the complexity and ambition of the business. We are looking for an Executive Recruiter to join our team in Costa Mesa, CA. In this role, you will be responsible for owning executive hiring across Anduril's SG&A function, including VP level and senior leadership roles. You will partner directly with Anduril's leadership team to run full-cycle searches, build a proprietary network of senior cleared defense talent, and represent Anduril credibly to candidates at the general officer, senior acquisition, and executive industry levels. This will require deep working knowledge of the DoD acquisition ecosystem, established relationships across the ex-military-turned-industry community, and the executive presence to drive process alongside C-level stakeholders. If you are someone who can operate with autonomy, build the systems that turn founder-led referrals into a rigorous pipeline, and earn trust quickly with senior candidates, this role is for you.

Requirements

• 10+ years of recruiting experience, with at least 4 years focused on executive-level searches (VP and above) in a corporate, retained search, or hybrid environment.
• Demonstrated track record of closing senior hires in defense, national security, aerospace, or adjacent government-adjacent industries.
• Deep familiarity with the DoD acquisition ecosystem — you understand how PEOs, DASA offices, service acquisition executives, and program offices operate, and you know where senior talent moves when it leaves government.
• Established personal network across the cleared defense and intelligence community at the senior leader level.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy and sound judgment in an environment where processes are still being built.
• Executive presence and communication skills sufficient to partner credibly with C-level stakeholders and engage candidates at the general officer and senior executive level.
• Comfort managing multiple concurrent searches with competing priorities and tight timelines.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

• Prior in-house executive recruiting experience at a defense technology company or venture-backed high-growth company.
• Prior retained search experience with a strong defense or aerospace practice.
• Understanding of executive compensation structures and equity design in both federal and technology contexts.
• Prior experience placing former general or flag officers, or candidates transitioning from military service into industry commercial leadership.
• Familiarity with Anduril's product portfolio and competitive positioning within the defense technology landscape.
• Experience building executive recruiting functions or playbooks from scratch — intake templates, assessment frameworks, market maps, and reporting cadences.
• Background in or exposure to military service, defense civilian roles, or the defense industrial base that provides natural credibility with the candidate population.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle executive searches across SG&A functions — Finance, Legal, People, Communications, and other corporate leadership roles — from intake through close, with a particular emphasis on VP-and-above positions.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Anduril's C-suite and functional leaders on executive talent strategy, market mapping, compensation benchmarking, and organizational design as it relates to senior hiring.
• Build and maintain a proprietary network of senior defense and national security talent, including retired general/flag officers, former senior acquisition officials, and executives from prime and non-traditional defense companies.
• Develop rigorous search processes that bring structure and accountability to what has historically been a relationship- and referral-driven motion — calibration sessions, candidate scorecards, pipeline reviews, and stakeholder alignment at every stage.
• Act as Anduril's brand ambassador to the senior defense community, representing the company's mission, culture, and trajectory credibly to candidates who are weighing Anduril against established primes and government service.
• Partner with Security to navigate clearance timelines and adjudication complexity for candidates with active or reinvestigable TS/SCI and SAP access.
• Collaborate with the broader Talent Acquisition team to share market intelligence, refine the executive recruiting playbook, and raise the bar on how Anduril approaches senior hiring company-wide.
• Track and report on pipeline health, time-to-fill, and search effectiveness to TA leadership, using data to identify bottlenecks and continuously improve the function.

Benefits

• Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package.
• 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: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed