Warhead Design Engineer - Modeling & Simulation

Anduril Industries•Costa Mesa, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lethality team is responsible for the design, analysis, testing, and transition to production of advanced warhead and ordnance systems across multiple platforms. This team operates at the intersection of design engineering, explosives understanding, safety, test execution, and numerical analysis to help Anduril build high-performing, mission-relevant systems faster and with better technical judgment. This is not a narrow, siloed engineering environment. The team supports a broad range of applications across land, air, sea, ship, underwater, and other mission contexts, depending on where warhead-related capability is needed. In practice, that means the team contributes not only to design maturity and performance analysis, but also to safety-related questions such as storage compatibility, accidental initiation, sympathetic detonation risk, and other system-level concerns. The team also plays a critical role in helping Anduril move quickly without relying on unnecessary physical testing. Numerical analysis and simulation are used to guide design decisions, shape experimental setups, inform diagnostic strategies, interpret results, and improve future product and proposal work. This role sits directly in that loop. Anduril is looking for a Warhead Design Engineer — Modeling & Simulation to join the team in Costa Mesa, CA. This role is for an engineer who can use academic literature, empirical data, first-principles reasoning, and computational modeling to help steer warhead design and related ordnance decisions from concept maturity through testing and toward production readiness. The objective of this role is not simply to run simulations. It is to use modeling and analysis as an engineering tool to improve decisions across design, explosive selection, initiation concepts, test planning, and post-test interpretation. The right person will help the team evaluate performance at a high level, build credible pre-test predictions, correlate model outputs to test data, and contribute to the broader engineering understanding needed to support complex munitions systems. This role will support work across multiple programs rather than sitting in a tightly bounded lane. It is a strong fit for someone who wants broad technical exposure, meaningful influence on real engineering decisions, and the opportunity to work alongside a deeply technical team on some of the hardest warhead and effects problems in the business. Steven Todd described the role as one that should not be overly pigeonholed and that may grow into broader ownership over time depending on the person’s strengths.

Requirements

BS or higher degree in mechanical, aerospace, explosives, or another engineering discipline.
2-10 years’ work experience as an individual contributing engineer, focused on mechanical design, analysis, and testing of warheads or ordnance systems.
Experience using multi-physics modeling and simulation tools such as ALE3D, Ansys Autodyn/LS-Dyna, CTH, EPIC, Matlab, Python, Sierra, Velodyne, Zapotec
Test experience including data acquisition, data analysis, and project coordination
Ability to travel as required for testing (surges up to 25%)
Experience preparing engineering documentation (i.e. specifications, test procedures, technical reports, drawings, etc.)
Passion for defending the United States and her allies
Be able to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

Nice To Haves

Active U.S. security clearance (DoD Secret or Top-Secret or DOE L or Q)
Expert level experience with multi-physics modeling and simulation tools
Experience with munitions testing
Experience with CAD design tools such as SolidWorks or NX CAD
Prior experience in explosive operations and/or handling munitions
Experience with the DoD Weapons Safety Boards
Experience designing and scaling production of mechanical components at volume
Experience developing or testing complex electrical or mechatronics systems

Responsibilities

Leverage academic studies and literature, empirical data, and simulation to steer the design of warheads and missile/ordnance systems from concept design maturity to production.
Analyze lethality and performance using hand-calculations (Gurney equations) and multi-physics modeling and simulation tools (CTH, Sierra, Zapotec, etc.)
Create pre-test predictions and correlate models with test data.
Manage arena and system testing of munitions products from end-to-end, including project planning, design of experiments, and safety.
Capture test video, compile data from ground and flight tests, and analyze results.
Assemble/disassemble explosive test articles and precision targets.
Directly influence how Anduril designs, evaluates, and matures advanced warhead systems.
Help the team absorb growing analysis demand across multiple active programs
Help the team make better engineering decisions earlier in the development cycle
Help the team reduce avoidable physical testing through smarter simulation and planning
Help the team design more informative experiments and diagnostics strategies
Help the team translate test data into better future designs, technical reports, customer-facing outputs, and proposal inputs

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans at little to no cost to you.
Life and disability insurance for all employees.
Highly competitive PTO plans with a holiday hiatus in December.
Caregiver & Wellness Leave is available to care for family members, bond with a new baby, or address your own medical needs.
Coverage for fertility treatments (e.g., IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carriers, along with resources to support you and your partner from planning to parenting.
Access free mental health resources 24/7, including therapy and life coaching.
Additional work-life services, such as legal and financial support, are also available.
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.