Forward Deployed Engineer, Mission Autonomy

fde; Costa Mesa (CA); Hybrid; USD 113,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril's Forward Deployed Engineer for Mission Autonomy is onsite in Costa Mesa, CA, joining the Deployment Operations group to advance autonomy products early in their lifecycle. You will work across hardware setup, software configuration, and integration with customer infrastructure, including Kubernetes/Docker and Linux administration.

We seek candidates with 3+ years tackling problems at hardware/software/networking interfaces in unstructured environments, ready to collaborate with

Qualifications

• 3+ years solving problems at hardware/software/networking interfaces.
• Experience deploying and integrating systems in unstructured environments.
• Onsite location in Costa Mesa, CA.

Responsibilities

• Deploy autonomy systems in austere field environments.
• Iterate with engineering on hardware setup, software configuration, Kubernetes/Docker.
• Coordinate with customer infrastructure worldwide.

Skills

HW/SW/Networking

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Linux administration

Job description

Anduril's Deployment Operations group hires FDEs (internally 'Technical Operations Engineer') to take Mission Autonomy products forward early in their lifecycle and iterate with engineering: hardware setup, software config, Kubernetes/Docker, Linux systems administration, and integration with customer infrastructure worldwide. 3+ years solving problems in unstructured environments at the hardware/software/networking interface. A parallel Air Defense FDE posting is live on the same board. Sourced from Plank FDE census (CC BY 4.0); verified on Anduril's Greenhouse board.

The only seat on this board where 'forward deployed' is literal — you deploy autonomy systems in austere field environments, not a SaaS dashboard. $113K–$155K is defense-wage, well under lab tier; the comp here is the mission and the clearance path, not the number.

Forward Deployed Engineer, Mission Autonomy at Anduril. Location: Costa Mesa, CA (onsite). Compensation: $113K–$155K. Posted July 15, 2026.