Chief Engineer, Autonomous Flight

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 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 Job

The Air Dominance & Strike team at Anduril develops aerial and multi-domain robotic systems. The teamis responsible fortaking products like Fury (unmanned fighter jet) and Barracuda (air-breathing cruise missile) from concept to product. The team also develops Lattice for Mission Autonomy, Anduril’s premier software platform that enables masses of Fury, Barracuda, and other first andthird-partyrobots to collaborate across various missions. We work in close coordination with specialist teams like Perception, Motion Planning, Hardware, and Test Engineering to solve some of the hardest problems facing our customers.

As a Chief Engineer, you will own the technical architecture and system-level design of the onboard autonomy stack, command and control systems, and modular payloads for our next-generation autonomous platforms.With a software heavy focus, you will guide lean, multi-disciplinary engineering teams from "0-to-1" design through deployment, bridging the gap between high-level business strategy and rigorous engineering execution.

What You’ll Do:

• 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 ensureperception, 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.

Required Qualifications:

• Proventrack recorddirecting technical architecture and guiding individual contributors as alead 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 withautonomous systems, mission-criticalDepartment of Defensesystems,or tactical edge technologies.
• Travel: Ability to travel up to 25% to customer sites andfield testinglocations.
• Education: BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Aerospace, ME, EE, CS, or equivalent.
• Security Clearance: Eligible to obtain andmaintainan active U.S. Secretclearan

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced knowledge in Motion Planning, Perception, Command & Control, SLAM, task allocation, or tactical networking.
• Work history involving multi-domain unmanned systems (air, ground, or maritime).
• Understanding of edge-AI/ML deployment on autonomous physical systems.

US Salary Range: $220,000 — $330,000 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.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.