2026 Early Career Manufacturing Engineer

Slope; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 86,000 - 114,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive equity grants

Comprehensive health benefits

Support in health and recovery

Job summary

Anduril Industries is looking for a Manufacturing Engineer to bridge design and production processes for advanced Unmanned Aerial Systems. This pivotal role focuses on efficient high-volume production and real-time problem solving.

The ideal candidate should possess a technical degree, relevant experience in manufacturing, and strong leadership skills. The role includes addressing mechanical and software challenges, driving documentation, and instilling innovation within the team.

Salary range for this position is between $86,000 and $114,000 USD, with competitive benefits included.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of experience in manufacturing or design of electromechanical hardware.
• Ability to deliver electromechanical hardware in resource-constrained environments.
• Interest in manufacturing and strong ownership.

Responsibilities

• Provide daily support for product line performance and problem-solving.
• Collaborate with design engineers for manufacturing best practices.
• Develop documentation for manufacturing hardware at scale.
• Contribute to mechanical and electrical design for hardware.

Skills

Manufacturing processes

Team leadership

Problem-solving

Technical documentation

Continuous improvement

Education

Degree in Engineering or Manufacturing

Tools

Machining

Fabrication

Soldering

Assembly

Job description

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

About the Team

Anduril’s team is seeking a highly motivated Manufacturing Engineer who is early in their career and wants to join our rapidly growing team. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for bridging the gap between cutting-edge design and efficient, high-volume production for our advanced Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) like Bolt, Ghost, Anvil, and future autonomous platforms.

As our team continues to quickly grow, we are looking for motivated candidates that are inspired to work within an extremely energetic, creative, and innovative team that is passionate about drone technology and high-rate production. We work in a highly dynamic environment where collaboration and idea sharing are a way of life.

What You’ll Do

• Provide daily sustaining support to ensure each product line performs as intended, including real-time problem-solving related to mechanical fitment issues, electrical and harnessing issues, as well as software and firmware issues.
• Work with design engineers during the development process to drive design for manufacturing best practices into the design effort, and help facilitate the transition from design to prototype to rate production.
• Work hand in hand with the broader production team to solve complex issues to ensure customer demand is met.
• Write documentation required for successfully manufacturing hardware at scale, such as work instructions, quality plans, inspection requirements, etc.
• Develop novel tooling solutions for fabrication and assembly of structural parts.
• Contribute to end-customer hardware mechanical or electrical design, including interconnects, board fabrication and inspection, etc.
• Analyze metrics for continuous improvement initiatives (cost reduction, QI reduction & capacity increase).
• Instill a culture of innovation, teamwork, and accountability within the manufacturing engineering product team.

Required Qualifications

• A degree in a technical field such as engineering or manufacturing.
• 1+ years of experience in a relevant field, preferably manufacturing or design of electromechanical hardware.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver electromechanical hardware in a resource-constrained environment.
• Demonstrated in-kind or direct team leadership skills, with backing examples.
• Experience physically manufacturing hardware via any means (machining, fabrication, soldering, assembly, etc.).
• A genuine interest in manufacturing, thirst for learning, and high degree of ownership.
• U.S. Person status is required as this position needs to access export controlled data.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building successful production operations from scratch, often working with very little definition.
• Harness & PCBA fabrication experience or proven competency in mechanical system design and analysis.
• Ownership of a complex bill of materials for an electromechanical product.
• Interesting work on personal or extracurricular project is a plus.

US Salary Range: $86,000—$114,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top‑tier benefits for full‑time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next.