Deputy Chief Engineer, Discovery

Anduril; Costa Mesa, Waltham, Washington (CA, MA, District of Columbia); On-site; USD 191,000 - 253,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Deputy Chief Engineer in Discovery to lead technical work on unproven concepts. You will own approaches, review work, and decide which concepts advance based on evidence.

This hands-on role spans multiple domains and emphasizes rigorous testing from first principles to built prototypes. You will guide concepts across hardware and software, partnering with cross-functional teams and external programs, while maintaining a sharp focus on delivering testable, real

Qualifications

• Active U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
• Experience in multiple technical areas.
• Designed, built, tested, or fielded something real.
• Proficiency in a physics-math scripting environment (Python with numpy/scipy, MATLAB/Simulink, Julia, or similar)
• Strong written, verbal, and visual communication.

Responsibilities

• Own new concepts from first idea through analysis, prototype, and test, and drive them to a validated answer.
• Learn new domains fast enough to do real work in them: read references, build models, verify against results, extend it.
• Build or adapt models, simulations, and test setups using existing tools or building where needed.
• Pressure-test work, hunt failure modes, surface assumptions, stress trade studies before decisions.
• Collaborate with Hardware, Software, GNC, and other teams and translate results into decisions.
• Communicate results to engineers, leadership, and customers with strong visuals of complex data.

Skills

Top Secret clearance

Python (numpy/scipy)

Cross-disciplinary experience

Communication skills

Education

Math/Physics/Engineering degree

Tools

STK/Astrogator

AFSIM

HFSS

Fluent

Job description

Costa Mesa, California, United States; Waltham, Massachusetts, United States; Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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

Discovery is Anduril's team for the hard concepts: the ones that are not yet proven or built. We take the newest and hardest problems across space, missiles, air, sensors, autonomy, and cyber, decide what is worth building, and prove it out: we build the models, break the assumptions, run the tests, and carry what works to the point where a program can pick it up. We work with hardware and software engineering teams across the company, driving cross-functional collaboration across different business lines.

ABOUT THE JOB

We are building an expeditionary force: a small group of engineers who want to do big, new, hard things and who move into unfamiliar territory as a matter of course. As Deputy Chief Engineer in Discovery, you lead the technical work on concepts nobody has proven, usually several at once. You learn whatever domain each one lives in and build the thing that tests it: the prototype, the test article, the demonstration. Analysis gets a concept to the point where it is worth building; building it is how we find out. You are the technical authority for the concepts you own: you set the approach, review the work, and decide, on the evidence, which concepts continue and which stop. The problems change; the approach does not: reason from first principles, build it, test it, and reach a solution.

You are not hired for a particular skill set. You are hired for a record of building things: taking a concept from an idea to hardware or software that works, across different areas, and getting to solutions. You are also the adversary to our own ideas. The rigor that validates a good concept is the same rigor that kills a bad one early, while it is still cheap, and you apply it to your own work first.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role on both internally and externally funded programs within Anduril's Discovery Business Line, on operationally relevant timelines.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own new concepts from first idea through analysis, prototype, and test, and drive them to a validated answer
• Learn new domains fast enough to do real work in them: read the references, build the model, check it against known results, then extend it
• Build or adapt the models, simulations, and test setups the question needs, using existing tools where they fit and building where they do not
• Pressure-test your own and others' work: hunt failure modes, surface hidden assumptions, and stress trade studies before decisions are locked inUse AI tools as a force multiplier for research, code, and analysis, and know when their output has to be checked against a reference
• Work shoulder to shoulder with Hardware, Software, GNC, and the other teams at Anduril, and translate results into decisions that change the design
• Communicate results to engineers, leadership, and customers, including strong visual presentation of complex data

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Currently possesses and is able to maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance
• Demonstrated experience working in more than one technical area
• You have done things: designed, built, tested, or fielded something real, in any field
• Proficiency in at least one physics-math scripting environment (Python with numpy/scipy, MATLAB/Simulink, Julia, or similar)
• Strong written, verbal, and visual communication

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 12+ years in a relevant science/engineering field
• Math, physics, or engineering degree, or similar
• Proficiency with AI tools (coding assistants, agents, model-driven research) in day-to-day engineering work, and judgment about when to trust their output
• Experience in several of: space systems, missiles and missile defense, air vehicles, GNC, sensors and sensor fusion, radar, EW, acoustics, autonomy, or similar. Breadth across these counts for more than depth in any one
• Familiarity with domain analysis tools as relevant (STK/Astrogator, AFSIM, HFSS, Fluent, or similar)

US Salary Range

$191,000 - $253,000 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:

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 .

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.

As set forth in Anduril Industries's Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.