Chief Engineer, Autonomous Fighter Systems

Anduril; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 254,000 - 336,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

Equity grants

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a Chief Engineer for Fury to own the technical execution of this unmanned fighter as it advances through EMD. You will lead a multi-disciplinary engineering team to finalize design, oversee prototype fabrication, and run a rigorous flight test campaign.

The role requires delivering trade-offs across aircraft disciplines, ensuring airworthiness, and coordinating with manufacturing for production readiness in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Chief Engineer, IPT Lead, or senior technical leader on a complete air vehicle development program.
• Strong leadership of multi-disciplinary teams through major aircraft EMD phases (detailed design, prototype build, or flight test).
• Direct experience with developmental flight test, including test planning, risk management, and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical authority for Fury platform, leading a multi-disciplinary team through design, integration, and verification.
• Direct fabrication and assembly of prototype and development articles, resolving engineering challenges.
• Plan and execute a comprehensive flight test campaign from ground tests to developmental flight test.

Skills

Leadership of multi-disciplinary teams

Flight test planning

Systems engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering

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 PLATFORM

The FQ-44 Fury is one of two aircraft selected for the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program—a pioneering effort to deploy autonomous loyal wingmen alongside the F-15EX, F-22, F-35, and next-generation crewed fighters. This is the future of air superiority: high-performance unmanned systems that seamlessly integrate with crewed aircraft to dominate contested airspace.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Air Dominance and Strike (AD&S) Chief Engineering Team serves as the technical authority for our most critical programs. We own the technical baseline, lead multi-disciplinary teams through rigorous development and flight test, and deliver revolutionary air systems that define the mission. We are problem-solvers at the highest level, driving technical execution from first principles to operational demonstration.

ABOUT THE JOB

As Chief Engineer for Fury, you will own the technical execution of this groundbreaking unmanned fighter as it advances through Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD). You'll lead a multi-disciplinary engineering team to finalize detailed design, oversee prototype fabrication and integration, and execute a comprehensive flight test campaign that proves the system in operationally relevant scenarios.

Your mission: mature Fury from proven design and test heritage into a fully validated, flight-proven system ready for production and deployment. This role demands a leader who thrives under pressure, makes critical technical trade-offs across complex aircraft disciplines, and delivers results in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own Technical Execution: Serve as technical authority for the Fury platform, leading a multi-disciplinary team (aerodynamics, structures, GNC, propulsion, avionics, software) through detailed design, integration, and verification.
• Oversee Prototype Development: Direct fabrication and assembly of prototype and development articles, resolving complex engineering challenges that emerge during the build process.
• Lead the Flight Test Campaign: Plan and execute a comprehensive test program—from ground test and SIL/HIL integration through developmental flight test—validating performance and expanding the operational envelope.
• Drive System Architecture: Guide critical design trades, subsystem optimization, and interface management to ensure a cohesive, high-performance air vehicle architecture.
• Ensure Airworthiness: Serve as technical authority for system safety, partnering with test teams to develop the data and artifacts required for military flight release authorization.
• Solve Complex Problems: Act as the lead technical problem-solver, driving root cause analysis and implement effective solutions for issues discovered during integration and test.
• Enable Production: Partner with manufacturing engineering to ensure production-readiness (DFM/DFA) and execute a clean transition to low-rate production.
• Support Field Operations: Deploy to customers and test sites to support critical flight test and demonstration activities.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Proven experience as a Chief Engineer, IPT Lead, or senior technical leader on a complete air vehicle development program.
• Deep, hands-on leadership of multi-disciplinary teams through at least one major phase of aircraft EMD (detailed design, prototype build, or flight test).
• Demonstrated success taking complex aircraft systems from design through build and into successful flight test.Strong technical foundation across multiple aircraft disciplines (aerodynamics, structures, GNC, propulsion, systems integration).
• Direct experience with developmental flight test, including test planning, risk management, and data-driven decision making.
• Deep understanding of the first principles behind vehicle and systems design.
• Background on mission-critical DoD or advanced development aircraft programs.Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering discipline.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Direct experience leading the development of unmanned aircraft (UAS) at Group 3 or above.
• Experience as the technical authority for a "clean-sheet" or major modification aircraft program.
• Hands-on leadership in a fast-paced, agile, or startup aerospace development environment.
• Experience with military airworthiness certification processes (e.g., MIL-HDBK-516).
• Background in advanced or classified aircraft development (e.g., Skunk Works, Phantom Works, or similar).
• An active Top Secret security clearance.

Per Anduril's expansion plans, we anticipate this job will be based out of Long Beach, CA beginning late 2027.

US Salary Range

$254,000—$336,000 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. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

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