Flight Sciences Engineer

Anduril; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 166,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extensive health benefits

Equity grants

Comprehensive support programs

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa is seeking an experienced aerospace engineer specializing in guidance and control law development for drones. Ideal candidates will have a bachelor's or master's degree in aerospace engineering and over four years of applicable experience, including aerodynamic design and flight simulation.

The role involves conducting a range of analyses and simulation tasks to enhance drone performance. Benefits include competitive salary ranges from $166,000 to $220,000 and comprehensive employee support programs.

Qualifications

• 4+ years applicable professional experience with airborne platforms.
• 4+ years of experience in aerodynamic design and analysis, flight simulation, and flight testing.
• Strong understanding of aerodynamics and flight dynamics, stability, and control.

Responsibilities

• Conduct aerodynamic design and analysis for various drone platforms.
• Develop high-fidelity flight simulation models.
• Plan and execute tests to evaluate aircraft performance.

Skills

Aerodynamic design and analysis

Flight simulation

Programming skills (MATLAB, C++)

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering or related field

Tools

CFD tools

MATLAB/Simulink

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 Tactical Recon and Strike team at Anduril develops aerial small drones (Group 1-3) and all equipment to test, deploy and operate. The team is responsible for taking products like Ghost, Anvil, Bolt and Altius from paper sketches to operational systems. We work in close coordination with specialist teams to solve some of the hardest problems facing our customers. We are looking for software engineers, hardware engineers, roboticists, and front-end mobile developers who are excited about creating a powerful robotics platform that can be tasked and viewed in real‑time through a variety of interfaces.

The guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) team within TRS performs implementation, analysis, test, and validation for GNC software solutions supporting our autonomous drone fleet. Applications include attitude and position control, waypoint and terminal guidance engagements, and navigating contested environments including communication and GPS denied environments.

About the Job

This role will be responsible for guidance and control law development and validation, hardware and software in‑the‑loop test and analysis, and cutting‑edge navigation solutions supporting the entire range of drones within TRS.

What You’ll Do

• Aerodynamic Design & Analysis:
  • Aerodynamic design of fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and hybrid VTOL platforms at conceptual, preliminary, and detail design maturities
  • aerodynamic analysis of unmanned air vehicles, using both low and high order methods, including analysis tool development and improvement as needed
  • Conduct detailed analysis to predict and enhance aero performance.
  • Utilize Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools and low‑order methods for performance evaluation.
  • Develop and maintain in‑house suite of aerodynamic analysis tools.
  • Evaluate impacts of configuration changes on performance of the aircraft.
• Flight Simulation Development:
  • Design, implement, and maintain high‑fidelity flight simulation models.
  • Utilize simulation to evaluate aircraft performance and reliability.
  • Validate simulation accuracy against wind tunnel and flight test results.
• Testing:
  • Work with Flight Test personnel to plan and execute tests to evaluate aircraft performance
  • Plan and coordinate wind tunnel testing to gather aerodynamic data
  • Analyze test data to identify performance trends and areas for improvement.
  • Utilize flight test data to identify system bugs and failures
  • Prepare technical reports and briefings to communicate findings with stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• 4+ years applicable professional experience with airborne platforms
• 4+ years of experience in aerodynamic design and analysis, flight simulation, and flight testing
• Hands‑on experience with CFD tools, MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent simulation platforms
• 4+ years experience in programming and data analysis skills (MATLAB, C++, etc.)
• Strong understanding of aerodynamics and flight dynamics, stability, and control
• A passion for defending the United States of America and its allies
• US person status is required as this position requires access to export controlled information

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
• Experience with flight control design and analysis for fixed and rotary wing aircraft or missile systems
• C/C++ Expertise
• Experience with Simulink Embedded Coder

US Salary Range: $166,000—$220,000 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.