Manager, Manufacturing Engineering - Autonomous Airpower

Anduril • Costa Mesa, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Manufacturing Engineering Manager for a new Autonomous Airpower aircraft program will build and lead the manufacturing engineering team from early prototyping through transition to full-rate production. This is a hands-on working-manager role, particularly early in the program, involving technical program decisions, process authorship, and design-for-manufacturability decisions. As the program and team grow, the role will increasingly focus on strategic planning, cross-functional leadership, and developing manufacturing engineering talent.

The position is based in Costa Mesa, California, with a planned move to Anduril's Long Beach office when it opens. The manager will work with Autonomous Airpower chief engineers, program management, growth, supply chain, and the broader AD&S Manufacturing Engineering organization to ensure designs can be built reliably, repeatedly, and at scale.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering.
• At least 7 years of manufacturing engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware production, including at least 3 years in a managerial or technical lead role.
• Demonstrated experience developing products from scratch and scaling them to production, ideally on aircraft or complex aerospace vehicle programs.
• Cradle-to-grave ownership experience from design input through process development, work instruction authoring, tooling definition, and production support.
• Experience hiring, developing, and leading manufacturing engineering teams.
• Experience driving process improvements and production readiness in a manufacturing setting.
• Strong DFM/DFA instincts and demonstrated ability to influence design decisions for manufacturability.
• Excellent project management skills and experience leading cross-functional projects.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively at all organizational levels.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Willingness and ability to remain hands-on in technical work as a working manager.
• Technical expertise in manufacturing systems, including MES, ERP, and PLM.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Experience on fixed-wing, UAV, or autonomous air vehicle programs from development through LRIP or full-rate production.
• Experience designing, building, and commissioning factories or new production lines, greenfield or brownfield.
• Experience across manufacturing engineering disciplines such as structures and composites, mechanical systems, fluid systems (hydraulic, fuel, pneumatic), propulsion integration, avionics, or wire harness manufacturing.
• Knowledge of low-observable coating, energetics, mission systems, or propulsion manufacturing.
• Experience transitioning hardware from prototype through first-article to full-rate production.
• Knowledge of AS9100, aerospace quality systems, and non-conformance management processes.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or structured continuous improvement methodologies.
• Proficiency in CAD software such as CATIA, SolidWorks, NX, or equivalent, and familiarity with modern manufacturing technologies and automation.
• Experience with Teamcenter, SAP, Oracle, or similar PLM/ERP platforms.
• Personal experience physically manufacturing hardware through machining, fabrication, soldering, assembly, or other means; personal or extracurricular projects are a plus.
• Master's degree in engineering, business, or a related field.
• Active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the manufacturing engineering team, including hiring, structuring the team, setting goals, providing technical direction, and evaluating performance.
• Remain hands-on in engineering work, make technical program decisions, and personally own key manufacturing engineering deliverables, especially during the program's early phase.
• Develop and execute strategic plans for production capabilities, incorporating technologies, methodologies, and automation across the aircraft manufacturing lifecycle.
• Partner with chief engineers and design engineering throughout development, from concept trades and DFM input through design reviews, prototype and first-article builds, LRIP, and full-rate production transition.
• Own manufacturing documentation, including work instructions, inspection plans and requirements, MBOMs, and process documentation.
• Drive production readiness activities, including process capability assessments, tooling readiness, MBOM maturity, and rate-readiness planning.
• Lead selection, installation, and commissioning of manufacturing equipment, tooling, and processes, ensuring effective production-line integration.
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce cost, enhance quality, and maximize throughput.
• Manage budgets and forecast future personnel, equipment, tooling, and material needs.
• Collaborate with program management, supply chain, operations, quality, and leadership to drive production readiness and successful program execution.
• Serve as the program's manufacturing engineering technical expert and point of contact, guiding resolution of complex problems.
• Analyze production metrics and performance data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Communicate manufacturing strategy and aircraft production plans to external customers, from development through full-rate production.
• Foster innovation, teamwork, and accountability within the manufacturing engineering organization.
• Ensure manufacturing processes comply with safety, quality, and regulatory requirements.

Benefits

• Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full-time offers and are considered part of total compensation.
• Top-tier benefits package available at little to no cost to employees.

What This Job Offers

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