Chief Architect, Autonomous Robotics & Autonomy

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 330,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Chief Engineer to own the technical architecture and system-level design of the onboard autonomy stack, command and control systems, and modular payloads for next-generation autonomous platforms. You will lead lean, multidisciplinary teams from conceptual design through deployment, bridging strategic goals with rigorous execution.

You will collaborate with Product Managers and Defense specialists to translate mission needs into concrete technical milestones,

Qualifications

• Proven track record directing technical architecture and guiding individual contributors as a lead engineer.
• Background in developing and fielding software-heavy robotics, autonomous systems, or aerospace products.
• Strong hardware/software integration skills, including robotics software architectures and tactical mission systems.
• Experience with autonomous systems, mission-critical Department of Defense systems, or tactical edge technologies.
• Travel up to 25% to customer sites and field testing locations.
• Education: BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Aerospace, ME, EE, CS, or equivalent.
• Security Clearance: Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead systems engineering, requirements decomposition, and technical architecture for software-heavy robotics systems.
• Guide small, fast-moving groups of individual contributors through the design, implementation, and deployment phases of emerging programs.
• Oversee hardware/software integration and testing (simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and field testing) to ensure perception, motion planning, and task allocation algorithms run seamlessly on physical platforms.
• Partner with Product Managers and Business Development to convert customer mission needs and operational concepts into concrete technical milestones.
• Decide technical trade-offs across concurrent programs, helping teams prioritize engineering efforts.

Skills

Technical leadership

System architecture

Robotics software

Hardware/software integration

Autonomous systems

Security clearance eligibility

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Robotics, Aerospace, ME, EE, CS

Job description

Anduril Industries is seeking a Chief Engineer to own the technical architecture and system-level design of the onboard autonomy stack, command and control systems, and modular payloads for next-generation autonomous platforms. You will lead lean, multidisciplinary teams from conceptual design through deployment, bridging strategic goals with rigorous execution.

You will collaborate with Product Managers and Defense specialists to translate mission needs into concrete technical milestones,