Program Chief Engineer

Anduril Industries • Irvine, CA

126d • $129,000 - $171,000

About The Position

We're seeking a Program Chief Engineer to join our rapidly growing team in Irvine, CA. This role provides an opportunity for immediate impact on real-world operations. Our focus is on creating groundbreaking technology that operators need and trust, and all your work will feed into this. You will go deep to learn about gaps in existing defense capabilities, engage with users, synthesize feedback, and build the product infrastructure to support our goals. Anduril is a rapidly growing company, and the right person for this role should be able to work in partnership with engineers and leadership, and thrive in a fast-paced environment with many competing priorities. You often will be expected to self direct, and to be comfortable navigating ambiguity. You will quickly take ownership of an Air Defense Program to solve specific challenges, craft your own vision for what the technical success of that initiative looks like, and own the execution of that vision through cross functional execution.

Requirements

• Minimum of 4+ years experience as a Chief Engineer, Technical Program Manager, Technical Product Manager, Engineering Manager, or Engineer in an autonomous systems, robotics, or software development environment.
• Proven client-facing technical program management and/or systems engineering experience, preferably in the defense, national security, or aerospace domains.
• A strong familiarity with robotics, sensor integrations, or computer vision systems and their architecture preferred.
• Proven experience leading a technical team of peers to field hardware or software products to real operating environments.
• Experience working in a rapidly iterating test environment with high levels of integration with software development teams.
• Solid technical aptitude and an ability to understand technical designs, software development lifecycle, challenges and risks; ability to work closely and effectively with engineering teams.
• Ability to work with internal and external stakeholders, across a wide range of technical comfort.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be able to obtain a minimum Secret Clearance.
• Must be able to travel up to 25% of the time.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in building programs for software and testing deliverables from ground up.
• Strong technical, analytical and quantitative skills with the ability to use data and metrics to back up assumptions, recommendations and drive decisions.
• Ability to work within organizations with minimal structure and with minimal direction.
• Experience in rolling out potentially disruptive organizational process changes.
• Experience with tools like JIRA and Confluence.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or an Engineering discipline.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain relationships with internal stakeholders, external clients, and industry partners to gather insights, align objectives, and secure buy-in for strategic initiatives.
• Act as the primary technical liaison for the client, advocate for their needs within the engineering organization and ensure their feedback directly influences the engineering roadmap.
• Communicate the outputs of these efforts including upcoming software releases, new capabilities, and performance improvement over time.
• Drive technical outcomes through meticulous understanding of system performance, drive product development through operational learnings and data.
• Own the technical narrative from product delivery through continuous improvements.
• Bring clarity to the path between engineering development and operational delivery.
• Translate strategic business goals and program requirements into actionable project plans, setting clear milestones, and driving initiatives from conception through to successful completion.
• Oversee the allocation of personnel, budget, and other resources to ensure successful execution of these initiatives.
• Execute on broad and/or ambiguous requirements from external clients.
• Manage, unblock, and accelerate cross-team projects spanning multiple teams and initiatives.
• Support the drafting of technical proposals, ensuring that potential projects and scaling opportunities with each account are accurately scoped, resourced, and aligned with the organization's capabilities and strategic goals.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans at little to no cost to you.
• Anduril covers life and disability insurance for all employees.
• Highly competitive PTO plans with a holiday hiatus in December.
• Coverage for fertility treatments (e.g., IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carriers.
• Access free mental health resources 24/7, including therapy and life coaching.
• Annual reimbursement for professional development.
• Company-funded commuter benefits based on your region.
• Relocation Assistance available depending on role eligibility.
• Traditional 401(k), Roth, and after-tax (mega backdoor Roth) options.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees