Head of Sensors & Radar Strategic Supply Chain

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 253,000 - 336,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries, a defense technology company, seeks a strategic sourcing leader to shape global supplier strategies for advanced sensor and radar systems. You will guide a global team of commodity managers, engage early with engineering for DFM/DFT, and drive high‑stakes supplier negotiations.

The role demands deep EO/IR and precision optics experience, strong negotiation, and readiness to travel internationally; onsite relocation to Costa Mesa is required for this position.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline is required.
• 10+ years in optical & radar strategic sourcing, global commodity management, or supply chain leadership in complex hardware manufacturing.
• 5+ years building and scaling procurement or supply chain teams.
• Experience negotiating enterprise‑level agreements and managing EO/IR architectures or precision optics fabrication.
• Proven track record of managing supplier lifecycles and multi‑million‑dollar commercial agreements.
• Strong NPI (New Product Introduction) workflow understanding and scale‑up experience.
• Ability to travel 25%–50% domestically and internationally, and relocate onsite in Costa Mesa.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute multi‑year global sourcing strategies across sensor domains.
• Build, mentor, and lead a high‑performing team across global sites.
• Drive deep sub‑tier visibility and manage supplier tooling and test fixtures.
• Partner with Optical Engineers, RF/Antennas Designers, and Sensor teams during R&D/NPI to qualify detector tech.
• Lead negotiations for MSAs, development agreements, and SOWs; optimize pricing, IP, and lead times.
• Identify single‑source dependencies and plan risk mitigation and dual‑sourcing.
• Conduct executive reviews and communicate critical supply chain matters to leadership.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Operations, Business, or a related technical discipline.

Job description

About The Job

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.

What You’ll Do

• Enterprise Supply Chain Vision & Strategy: Define and execute multi-year global sourcing strategies across complex sensor domains, including Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA), millimeter-wave radar, SWIR/MWIR/LWIR cooled and uncooled optical engines, precision optomechanics, and beam‑steering systems.


• Team Leadership & Scale: Build, mentor, and lead a high‑performing team of commodity managers, strategic sourcing leads, and technical sourcing engineers across multiple global sites.


• Supplier Relationship Management: Drive deep sub‑tier visibility beyond Tier 1. Manage investments in supplier‑owned tooling, cleanroom allocations, precision optical fabrication machinery (MRF, diamond turning), and specialized RF/optical test fixtures (anechoic chambers, collimators, interferometers).


• Cross‑Functional Engineering Alignment: Partner directly with Optical Engineers, RF/Antennas Designers, and Sensor Architecture teams during early‑stage R&D/NPI to qualify state‑of‑the‑art detector technology, influence \"Design for Manufacturing & Test\" (DFM/DFT), and establish yield‑improvement roadmaps.


• Commercial & Strategic Negotiations: Lead high‑stakes negotiations for master service agreements (MSAs), development agreements, long‑term supply agreements (LTSAs), and complex statement of works (SOWs)—optimizing pricing structures, IP protection, warranty, payment terms, and lead‑time commitments.


• Supply Chain Resilience & Risk Mitigation: Proactively identify single‑source dependencies, geopolitical vulnerabilities, and capacity constraints. Drive proactive risk mitigation plans, dual‑sourcing strategies, and strategic buffer inventory models.


• Cost Architecture & TCO Modeling: Champion robust \"should‑cost\" modeling, teardown analyses, and TCO evaluations to optimize value from concept through end‑of‑life.


• Executive Communication: Conduct regular operational and strategic reviews with C-suite and executive leadership, serving as the primary executive escalation point for all critical supply chain matters.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Operations, Business, or a related technical discipline.


• 10+ years of experience in optical & radar strategic sourcing, global commodity management, or supply chain leadership within complex hardware manufacturing environments.


• 5+ years of proven experience building, managing, and scaling high‑performing procurement or supply chain teams.


• Demonstrated expertise negotiating enterprise‑level agreements and managing electro‑optical/infrared (EO/IR) architectures, radar/RF sub‑tier manufacturing (T/R modules, phased arrays), or precision optics fabrication.


• Proven track record of managing supplier lifecycles and negotiating complex multi‑million‑dollar commercial agreements.


• Deep understanding of New Product Introduction (NPI) workflows and scaling from prototype to high‑rate production.


• Ability to travel up to 25%–50% domestically and internationally as needed.


• Ability to relocate, if not already local to be onsite in Costa Mesa.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, optical engineering, or physics


• Previous experience in defense, aerospace, automotive, high tech, or related industry


• Well‑versed in TCO and should costing analysis to ensure data‑driven analytics tied to component and supplier selection, in a product‑based ecosystem


• Strategic thinker, experienced putting together commodities strategy/roadmap with key engineering stakeholders


• Proven leadership in driving and influencing other teams to a common goal. You know how to effectively communicate and collaborate cross‑functionally and with all levels within an organization


• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security clearance

US Salary Range

$253,000—$336,000 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.