Senior Manager, Manufacturing Engineering — Autonomous Airpower

Anduril • Costa Mesa, CA

2d

About The Position

Anduril is seeking a Senior Manager of Manufacturing Engineering to lead manufacturing engineering strategy and execution across its Autonomous Airpower portfolio, spanning multiple aircraft programs from early concept through full-rate production. The role is the portfolio-wide manufacturing engineering point of contact for program managers and growth leads, providing early assessments of manufacturability, cost, schedule, and production feasibility. It partners with chief engineers and design leadership throughout aircraft development, from concept trades and design-for-manufacturing input through design reviews, prototype and first-article builds, low-rate initial production, and full-rate production.

The Senior Manager will build and lead a multidisciplinary team of manufacturing engineers, set technical direction and scalable standards, and represent manufacturing engineering to directors and executives. The role requires hands-on aircraft manufacturing experience and the ability to communicate effectively across factory-floor and executive settings. It also owns manufacturing engineering cost and schedule positions across the portfolio and drives production readiness, including manufacturing bills of materials, process maturity, tooling readiness, and rate-readiness assessments.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering.
• 12 or more years of manufacturing engineering experience in aerospace or defense, with significant experience on aircraft programs.
• Deep, hands-on knowledge of aircraft manufacturing across multiple disciplines, such as structures/composites, mechanical systems, fluid systems, avionics, harnessing, or propulsion.
• Experience across the full aircraft production lifecycle, including design for manufacturing, design reviews, prototype/first-article builds, low-rate initial production, and full-rate production.
• Five or more years of experience leading and developing manufacturing engineering teams.
• Demonstrated ability to assess emerging programs and provide credible manufacturing cost, schedule, and feasibility inputs.
• Experience presenting manufacturing status, risks, and recommendations to director-level and executive audiences.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and demonstrated ability to drive alignment across engineering, operations, supply chain, program management, and business leadership.
• Experience managing manufacturing engineering budgets and cost positions across multiple programs.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Experience standing up new aircraft production lines from facility planning through rate production.
• Experience working directly with growth or business development teams to shape proposals and production strategies for new aircraft programs.
• Experience with autonomous aircraft, UAV, or advanced air vehicle programs.
• Knowledge of EVMS, earned value reporting, and program control fundamentals.
• Experience with Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRL) and Manufacturing Readiness Assessments (MRA).
• Experience working with Teamcenter, SAP, Oracle, or similar PLM/ERP platforms.
• Master's degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• Active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing engineering strategy and execution across multiple Autonomous Airpower aircraft programs at varying stages of maturity.
• Serve as the primary manufacturing engineering contact for program managers and the growth team on emerging capabilities, assessing manufacturability, cost, schedule, and production feasibility.
• Partner with chief engineers and design leadership from concept trades and design-for-manufacturing input through design reviews, prototype builds, low-rate initial production, and full-rate production.
• Build, develop, and lead a multidisciplinary team of manufacturing engineers across structures, mechanical systems, fluid systems, propulsion, avionics, and harnessing.
• Drive alignment across engineering, supply chain, manufacturing operations, program management, quality, and leadership to ensure production readiness.
• Own portfolio manufacturing engineering cost and schedule positions by developing estimates, tracking execution, identifying risks, and presenting status to directors and executives.
• Represent manufacturing engineering in executive reviews, program gate reviews, and customer-facing discussions, translating production realities into actionable information.
• Establish manufacturing engineering standards, processes, and best practices that scale across programs and production sites.
• Evaluate and advise on make-versus-buy decisions, capital investments, and production strategies based on aircraft manufacturing capabilities and constraints.
• Drive production readiness across the portfolio, including manufacturing bills of materials, process maturity, tooling readiness, and rate-readiness assessments.

Benefits

• Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full-time offers.
• Top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including a comprehensive and competitive benefits package available at little to no cost to employees. The description says the package supports health, recovery, and other needs but does not enumerate specific benefits.

What This Job Offers

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