Chief Engineer, Fury Advanced Development & Prototyping

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

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a Chief Engineer for Fury in Science & Tech to act as the senior technical authority for conceptual design, applied S&T, and experimental development of advanced flight platforms. You will drive technical execution from modeling to test of air systems, guided by customer needs and strategic program goals.

You will shape architecture, feasibility, and maturation paths across aerodynamics, propulsion, autonomy, and mission systems while coordinating with multi‑disciplinary

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in a technical field; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years direct experience in conceptual design and architecture of complete air vehicle platforms.
• Demonstrated experience leading conceptual design and early‑phase system architecture for full aircraft or complex flight systems.
• Strong systems‑level thinking across all air vehicle engineering domains.
• Hands‑on experience with real flight hardware, experimentation, or test activities.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead early conceptual design of entire advanced air vehicle platforms: configuration exploration, trade studies, and performance modeling.
• Apply first-principles thinking across air vehicle engineering: aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight controls, GNC, low observables, autonomy, and mission systems to evaluate concepts.
• Identify and mature key scientific and technical breakthroughs for new operational capability through novel air vehicle designs.
• Balance creativity with engineering realism, ensuring executable technology paths for complete air vehicle solutions.
• Define holistic system architectures integrating air vehicle design, mission systems, autonomy, and manufacturing from the outset.
• Lead cross-disciplinary trade studies and modeling to understand interactions, sensitivities, and failure modes across the entire flight system.
• Guide concepts from exploration to prototype‑ready air vehicle designs.

Skills

Systems thinking

Leadership

Hands-on hardware testing

Creative problem solving

Conceptual design leadership

Effective communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Systems Engineering, or related technical field

Tools

Flight test hardware

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

The Air Dominance and Strike (AD&S) Chief Engineering Team is a driving force behind the technical execution and strategic vision of our most critical programs. They are responsible for architecting a vision for product development and guiding multi-disciplinary teams to deliver effectively. They are expected to own the mission and to be deeply involved in building the eco-system that enables execution.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

As our Chief Engineer for Fury in Science & Tech, you will be the senior technical authority for conceptual design, applied S&T, and experimental development of advanced flight platforms. You will be highly creative, deeply understand customer needs, and personally drive technical execution through modeling, experimentation, build, and test of these air systems.

Concept Creation & Applied Science

• Lead early conceptual design of entire advanced air vehicle platforms: configuration exploration, trade studies, and performance modeling.
• Apply first-principles thinking across air vehicle engineering: aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight controls, GNC, low observables, autonomy, and mission systems to evaluate concepts.
• Identify and mature key scientific and technical breakthroughs for new operational capability through novel air vehicle designs.
• Balance creativity with engineering realism, ensuring executable technology paths for complete air vehicle solutions.

Systems Architecture & Integration

• Define holistic system architectures integrating air vehicle design, mission systems, autonomy, and manufacturing from the outset.
• Lead cross-disciplinary trade studies and modeling to understand interactions, sensitivities, and failure modes across the entire flight system.
• Guide concepts from exploration to prototype‑ready air vehicle designs.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Systems Engineering, or related technical field (advanced degree preferred).
• 10+ years direct experience in conceptual design, architecture, or advanced development of complete air vehicle platforms.
• Demonstrated experience leading conceptual design and early‑phase system architecture for full aircraft or complex flight systems.
• Strong systems‑level thinking across all air vehicle engineering domains.
• Hands‑on experience with real flight hardware, experimentation, or test activities.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior experience with DOW technology development organizations (e.g., DARPA, AFRL) on advanced flight programs.
• Experience transitioning entire flight systems from early research through prototype and operational demonstration.
• Background in experimental or flight test environments, including test planning and execution for novel air vehicles.
• Experience working on advanced or classified air vehicle platforms, including low‑observable or signature‑constrained designs.
• Deep technical expertise in multiple core air vehicle domains (e.g., aerodynamics, flight controls, GNC, propulsion, structures, aircraft integration).
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in fast‑paced, non‑traditional aerospace environments.
• Currently obtains a Top Secret level clearance or higher

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 .

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

• No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.
• Please always verify communications:
• Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.
• Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to [e-mail] .
• Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.
• What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to [e-mail] . Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.

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.