Executive Recruiter

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking an Executive Recruiter to own full-cycle executive hiring across SG&A, including VP and senior leadership roles. You will partner with Anduril's leadership to run searches, build a senior defense network, and credibly represent the company to candidates at the general officer and executive levels.

You will navigate DoD acquisition ecosystems, manage TS/SCI/SAP considerations, and collaborate with security and TA teams to drive a rigorous, scalable recruiting program.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of recruiting experience, with at least 4 years focused on executive-level searches (VP and above).
• Demonstrated track record of closing senior hires in defense, national security, aerospace, or adjacent government-adjacent industries.
• Deep familiarity with the DoD acquisition ecosystem and executive movement patterns.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle executive searches across SG&A from intake to close, focusing on VP-and-above roles.
• Advise C-suite on talent strategy, market mapping, compensation benchmarking, and org design.
• Build and maintain a network of senior defense and national security talent.

Skills

Executive recruiting

DoD talent network

C-suite partnering

Autonomy

Executive communication

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 Talent Acquisition team is responsible for building the leadership bench that powers Anduril's mission. Executive Recruiting owns the searches that shape the company's most senior hires — the leaders who run Anduril's commercial, operational, financial, legal, and people functions. As Anduril scales from a growth-stage defense technology company into a generational platform, the quality of its SG&A leadership becomes a defining competitive advantage. The Executive Recruiter, SG&A is responsible for running the searches that build this leadership layer, partnering with the C-suite to identify, attract, and close the senior executives who will scale Anduril's corporate functions to match the complexity and ambition of the business.

About The Job

We are looking for an Executive Recruiter to join our team in Costa Mesa, CA. In this role, you will be responsible for owning executive hiring across Anduril's SG&A function, including VP level and senior leadership roles. You will partner directly with Anduril's leadership team to run full-cycle searches, build a proprietary network of senior cleared defense talent, and represent Anduril credibly to candidates at the general officer, senior acquisition, and executive industry levels. This will require deep working knowledge of the DoD acquisition ecosystem, established relationships across the ex-military-turned-industry community, and the executive presence to drive process alongside C-level stakeholders. If you are someone who can operate with autonomy, build the systems that turn founder-led referrals into a rigorous pipeline, and earn trust quickly with senior candidates, this role is for you.

What You’ll Do

• Own full-cycle executive searches across SG&A functions — Finance, Legal, People, Communications, and other corporate leadership roles — from intake through close, with a particular emphasis on VP-and-above positions.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Anduril's C-suite and functional leaders on executive talent strategy, market mapping, compensation benchmarking, and organizational design as it relates to senior hiring.
• Build and maintain a proprietary network of senior defense and national security talent, including retired general/flag officers, former senior acquisition officials, and executives from prime and non-traditional defense companies.
• Develop rigorous search processes that bring structure and accountability to what has historically been a relationship- and referral-driven motion — calibration sessions, candidate scorecards, pipeline reviews, and stakeholder alignment at every stage.
• Act as Anduril's brand ambassador to the senior defense community, representing the company's mission, culture, and trajectory credibly to candidates who are weighing Anduril against established primes and government service.
• Partner with Security to navigate clearance timelines and adjudication complexity for candidates with active or reinvestigable TS/SCI and SAP access.
• Collaborate with the broader Talent Acquisition team to share market intelligence, refine the executive recruiting playbook, and raise the bar on how Anduril approaches senior hiring company-wide.
• Track and report on pipeline health, time-to-fill, and search effectiveness to TA leadership, using data to identify bottlenecks and continuously improve the function.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of recruiting experience, with at least 4 years focused on executive-level searches (VP and above) in a corporate, retained search, or hybrid environment.
• Demonstrated track record of closing senior hires in defense, national security, aerospace, or adjacent government-adjacent industries.
• Deep familiarity with the DoD acquisition ecosystem — you understand how PEOs, DASA offices, service acquisition executives, and program offices operate, and you know where senior talent moves when it leaves government.
• Established personal network across the cleared defense and intelligence community at the senior leader level.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy and sound judgment in an environment where processes are still being built.
• Executive presence and communication skills sufficient to partner credibly with C-level stakeholders and engage candidates at the general officer and senior executive level.
• Comfort managing multiple concurrent searches with competing priorities and tight timelines.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior in-house executive recruiting experience at a defense technology company or venture-backed high-growth company.
• Prior retained search experience with a strong defense or aerospace practice.
• Understanding of executive compensation structures and equity design in both federal and technology contexts.
• Prior experience placing former general or flag officers, or candidates transitioning from military service into industry commercial leadership.
• Familiarity with Anduril's product portfolio and competitive positioning within the defense technology landscape.
• Experience building executive recruiting functions or playbooks from scratch — intake templates, assessment frameworks, market maps, and reporting cadences.
• Background in or exposure to military service, defense civilian roles, or the defense industrial base that provides natural credibility with the candidate population.

US Salary Range

$160,000—$220,000 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.

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To Ensure Your Safety And Help You Navigate Your Job Search With Confidence, Please Keep The Following Critical Points In Mind

• 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.