Head of Production, Maritime

Anduril • Santa Ana, CA

2d

About The Position

Anduril’s Maritime Manufacturing Technology Team develops and implements manufacturing technologies, processes, and materials for advanced defense hardware. The team is developing deployable static and moving surface, undersea, and sea-to-air vehicles, while scaling production in new manufacturing facilities.

The Head of Production will establish a manufacturing site in Santa Ana, California, and build and lead the production organization from the ground up. The role is responsible for manufacturing processes, quality systems, and infrastructure needed to scale complex electromechanical vehicles from prototype builds through full-rate production. The position requires leading production at substantial organizational scale, balancing innovation with practical execution, and coordinating multiple sophisticated initiatives. The role involves travel more than 75% of the time to manufacturing facilities and customer sites.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or equivalent.
• At least 10 years of experience in manufacturing or production for complex electromechanical systems.
• At least 5 years of experience building and leading production teams and organizations.
• Experience managing production budgets of $10 million or more.
• Demonstrated experience scaling production from NPI through full-rate production.
• Deep expertise with production systems, including ERP, MES, and QMS.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience in maritime, naval, or aerospace defense, with knowledge of NAVSEA or MIL-SPEC standards.
• Technical foundation in mechanical assembly, electrical integration, heavy metal or composite fabrication, shipbuilding, or large vehicle production.
• Hands-on technical credibility from personally building, debugging, or repairing hardware in a production environment, and comfort working on the floor with technicians.
• Experience with MES and ERP systems for production and material planning; familiarity with JIRA, Siemens NX, Teamcenter (PLM), Oracle, or equivalents.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Own all production activity, including manufacturing and production support.
• Build and lead the production organization, supporting hiring across manufacturing engineering, quality, and operations.
• Establish manufacturing processes and production infrastructure for complex electromechanical vehicles.
• Drive the new product introduction (NPI) and manufacturing development lifecycle from concept and prototype through low-rate initial production (LRIP) and full-rate production (FRP).
• Manage production budgets, schedules, and on-time delivery performance.
• Own production readiness reviews and design the production system, including production engineering.
• Coordinate with supply chain teams on demand planning, procurement, and warehouse operations.
• Implement and optimize enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution (MES), and quality management (QMS) systems.
• Drive continuous improvement using Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent methodologies.
• Ensure compliance with AS9100, NAVSEA, and customer quality requirements.
• Interface with engineering, program management, and customer organizations.

Benefits

• Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full-time offers.
• Top-tier benefits for full-time employees, available at little to no cost to employees.

What This Job Offers

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