Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Imaging

Anduril Industries; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 292,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Director of Manufacturing Engineering to oversee both development and high-volume production in Waltham, MA. You will lead a team of manufacturing engineers, drive a long-term strategy, and champion automation and digital tools to scale capabilities while ensuring readiness for NPI and production ramp.

The role requires 12+ years in manufacturing engineering with at least 5 years in leadership, hands-on experience with electro-mechanical or imaging hardware, and

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering and operations.
• At least 5 years in a leadership role managing manufacturing engineering teams.
• Experience owning manufacturing value chains for complex electro-mechanical or imaging hardware (defense, aerospace, or adjacent industries strongly preferred).
• Strong background in make-vs-buy analysis, contract manufacturer management, and supplier development for precision hardware.
• Experience managing NPI and scaling production in high-growth environments with condensed timelines.
• Familiarity with optical system integration and test, precision assembly, or imaging hardware manufacturing.
• Knowledge of automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and digital manufacturing tools.
• Familiarity with quality systems (ISO 9001/AS9100) and PLM, MES, and ERP systems.
• Hands-on experience physically manufacturing hardware (assembly, soldering, machining, fabrication, etc.).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Build & Lead the Manufacturing Engineering Team: Recruit, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of manufacturing engineers and technical staff. Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization.
• Drive Manufacturing Strategy & Technology: Develop and implement a long-term manufacturing engineering strategy aligned with Anduril Imaging's growth objectives. Drive adoption of automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and digital manufacturing tools to enhance efficiency and scalability across development and high-volume production.
• Lead New Product Introduction (NPI): Partner with R&D and product development teams to ensure seamless transition of new products from design to production. Champion Design for Manufacturability (DfM) and Design for Assembly (DfA) principles early in the development cycle to de-risk production scaling.
• Scale Production Capability: Evaluate, plan, and prioritize supply chain, production, and test optimizations to ensure the value stream can reliably meet production output goals. Develop business cases for vertical integration or supplier diversification where strategic partnerships will accelerate scalability.
• Drive Continuous Improvement & Complexity Reduction: Lead initiatives to improve yield, reduce cycle time, and lower cost across the manufacturing value chain. Drive commonality optimization, component and supplier rationalization, and process standardization to simplify production at scale.
• Resource & Budget Management: Manage budgets, staffing, and capital equipment planning for the manufacturing engineering organization. Forecast headcount and operational needs to support rapid scaling, including classified production environments.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic manufacturing

NPI

DfM/DfA

Automation

Digital manufacturing tools

Quality systems knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Electrical/Industrial Engineering or related field

Master's degree or MBA preferred

Tools

PLM

MES

ERP

Automation technologies

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

As the Director of Manufacturing Engineering, your role encompasses the strategic oversight and tactical management of manufacturing engineering and systems to support both the development of new products and the scaling of high-volume production in Waltham, MA. You are charged with ensuring rigorous manufacturing processes are in place, resulting in the consistent delivery of superior quality products to our customers. Your leadership will also guarantee the fulfillment of manufacturing’s capacity commitments while driving advancements in digital tools and methodologies to improve design, analysis, and execution. This role demands an innovative and adaptable approach to solving complex manufacturing challenges in a highly dynamic environment.

What You'll Do

• Build & Lead the Manufacturing Engineering Team: Recruit, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of manufacturing engineers and technical staff. Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization.
• Drive Manufacturing Strategy & Technology: Develop and implement a long-term manufacturing engineering strategy aligned with Anduril Imaging's growth objectives. Drive adoption of automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and digital manufacturing tools to enhance efficiency and scalability across development and high-volume production.
• Lead New Product Introduction (NPI): Partner with R&D and product development teams to ensure seamless transition of new products from design to production. Champion Design for Manufacturability (DfM) and Design for Assembly (DfA) principles early in the development cycle to de-risk production scaling.
• Scale Production Capability: Evaluate, plan, and prioritize supply chain, production, and test optimizations to ensure the value stream can reliably meet production output goals. Develop business cases for vertical integration or supplier diversification where strategic partnerships will accelerate scalability.
• Drive Continuous Improvement & Complexity Reduction: Lead initiatives to improve yield, reduce cycle time, and lower cost across the manufacturing value chain. Drive commonality optimization, component and supplier rationalization, and process standardization to simplify production at scale.
• Resource & Budget Management: Manage budgets, staffing, and capital equipment planning for the manufacturing engineering organization. Forecast headcount and operational needs to support rapid scaling, including classified production environments.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical field; Master's degree or MBA preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering and operations, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing manufacturing engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience owning manufacturing value chains for complex electro-mechanical or imaging hardware — defense, aerospace, or adjacent industries strongly preferred.
• Strong background in make-vs-buy analysis, contract manufacturer management, and supplier development for precision hardware.
• Experience managing NPI and scaling production in high-growth environments with condensed timelines.
• Familiarity with optical system integration and test, precision assembly, or imaging hardware manufacturing.
• Knowledge of automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and digital manufacturing tools.
• Familiarity with quality systems (ISO 9001/AS9100) and PLM, MES, and ERP systems.
• Hands-on experience physically manufacturing hardware (assembly, soldering, machining, fabrication, etc.).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

US Salary Range

$220,000—$292,000 USD

Benefits

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.

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.