Director of Advanced Design

Anduril; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 345,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Competitive benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a Director of Advanced Design for the Air Dominance & Strike hardware engineering organization. You will oversee the conceptual design for Group 5 UAS and advanced missile platforms, directing end-to-end work and shaping technology roadmaps.

The role requires 10+ years in aerospace design leadership, and you will collaborate with Chief Engineers to ensure feasible, affordable solutions aligned with customer needs. Based out of Long Beach, CA starting late 2027.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in conceptual or preliminary design of aerospace systems with leadership on Group 5 UAS, similar class aircraft, or advanced missile systems.
• Expertise in at least one core aerospace hardware discipline: aerodynamics, structures, propulsion integration, or electrical systems.
• Strong understanding of system architecture, mission requirements, and full product lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Direct end-to-end conceptual design for UAV and missile platforms, including mission analysis and architecture selection.
• Serve as a technical expert for early-phase pursuits, shaping white-papers, proposals, and technology roadmaps.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure feasibility, affordability, and mission alignment.
• Support interactions with customers to translate requirements into design concepts.
• Act as a senior technical decision-maker to steer design paths and avoid costly missteps.
• Partner with Chief Engineers and product teams to align engineering with mission goals.
• Stay at the forefront of aerospace tech and incorporate disruptive innovations into early designs.

Skills

Aerospace system architecture

Team leadership

Propulsion integration

Aerodynamics

Electrical systems

Education

Advanced degree in Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Design tools

Simulation tools

Test equipment

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.

We are seeking a Director of Advanced Design for the Air Dominance & Strike hardware engineering organization. This role will oversee the conceptual design for Group 5 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and advanced missile platforms.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Direct the end-to-end conceptual design process for UAV and missile platforms, including mission analysis, configuration trade studies, requirements development, and architecture selection.
• Serve as a technical expert for early-phase pursuits, shaping concept white-papers, customer proposals, and technology roadmaps, partnering with the chief engineering team.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment with technical feasibility, affordability, and customer mission needs.
• Support direct interactions with customers to translate mission requirements into design concepts.
• Act as a senior technical decision-maker, applying engineering intuition and prior experience to ensure effective design paths and avoid costly development missteps.
• Partner with Chief Engineers and product teams to align engineering execution with broader mission and capability goals.
• Stay at the forefront of emerging aerospace technologies and threats, incorporating disruptive innovations into early-stage designs.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of experience in conceptual or preliminary design of aerospace systems, with technical leadership roles on Group 5 UAS, similar class aircraft, or advanced missile systems.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least one of the core aerospace hardware disciplines: aerodynamics, structures, propulsion integration, or electrical systems.
• Deep understanding of system architecture, mission requirements, and full product lifecycle development.
• Proven experience leading high-performance engineering teams, ideally in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and technical leadership skills

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Experience with rapid prototyping and iterative development environments.
• Hands-on experience with advanced design tools, simulation, and test equipment.

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

US Salary Range

$260,000 - $345,000 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.

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.