Industrial Strategy Lead, Production Strategy and Operations

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

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits

Equity grants

Health benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking an Industrial Strategy Lead for Production Strategy & Operations in the United States. You will shape the production thesis for acquisitions, lead diligence across manufacturing capabilities, and partner with CorpDev and production leaders to ensure seamless integration of target companies into Anduril's operations.

You will evaluate supplier capacity, factory conditions, and manufacturing economics while aligning with corporate strategy.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years in corporate development, M&A, or strategic transactions.
• Experience at a defense prime or industrials company.
• Experience structuring and running diligence processes.
• Ability to build a thesis from ambiguous inputs.
• Comfort navigating cross-functional relationships.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop the production M&A thesis for acquisition targets.
• Lead production-focused diligence workstreams for active deals.
• Assess target manufacturing capabilities, capacity, workforce, equipment, and quality systems.
• Translate diligence findings into actionable integration plans and timelines.
• Collaborate with CorpDev and Production leadership throughout the deal process.

Skills

Corporate dev

M&A

Strategic transactions

Defense prime

Manufacturing ops

Cross-functional

Communication

Job description

Industrial Strategy Lead, Production Strategy and Operations

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 Anduril Production Strategy & Operations

• PS&O is the strategic operations arm of Anduril's Production organization. We exist at the intersection of corporate strategy and manufacturing execution — the team that takes senior leadership's strategic priorities and turns them into operational reality. Industrial Development is one of three PS&O pillars:
  • Industrial Development: Production M&A thesis, upstream funnel management, review of vertical integration, production centric diligence
  • Industrial Integration: Post-acquisition production integration deployment to suppliers
  • Special Projects: High-priority, cross-cutting production initiatives ("up and out" strategic projects and "down and in" site deployments)
• We are a small, high-leverage team building the playbook for scaling defense production. If you want to work on problems that matter — at the intersection of M&A, manufacturing, and national security — this is the team.

What You’ll Do

• You will be the production voice in Anduril's M&A process — the person who can look at an acquisition target and articulate whether it makes Anduril's production base stronger, weaker, or redundant. This is not a traditional CorpDev role. You won't be building DCFs or negotiating purchase agreements. You'll be developing the production thesis for why Anduril should (or shouldn't) acquire a company, running the production centric diligence that CorpDev doesn't have the domain expertise to execute, and ensuring that what we buy actually integrates into how we build things.
• Production M&A Thesis Development: Scan the defense industrial base and work with Division leaders to evaluate acquisition targets that fill production capability gaps — vertical integration opportunities, critical supplier consolidation, or capacity expansion. Build business cases grounded in manufacturing economics (not just revenue multiples).
• Diligence Leadership: Scope and lead production-focused diligence workstreams for active deals. Assess target manufacturing capabilities, production capacity, workforce quality, equipment condition, quality systems maturity, and supply chain health. Deliver clear go/no-go recommendations to CorpDev and Production leadership.
• Integration Handoff: Translate diligence findings into actionable integration plans. Coordinate with Anduril’s M&A integration team on Day 0/Day 1 activities while owning the production-specific integration risks (systems cutover, supplier transition, quality system harmonization).
• CorpDev Partnership: Serve as the primary PS&O interface to CorpDev throughout the deal process. You complement their financial and legal diligence with operational and production assessment — you are the person who can tell CorpDev "yes, this factory can actually scale to 10x volume" or "no, their quality system is a $5M fix."
• Team Leadership: Lead a 2-person sub-team (Analyst + Production Diligence Specialist). Set diligence priorities, review work products, and develop junior team members.

What We’re Looking For

• 4–6 years of experience in corporate development, M&A, or strategic transactions — ideally at a defense prime or industrials company (L3Harris, RTX, Northrop, GD, Textron, etc.) where you've seen acquisitions from the operating company side, not just the financial side.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing operations and what makes a production facility valuable (or a liability). You don't need to be an engineer, but you need to know the right questions to ask on a plant tour.
• Experience structuring and running diligence processes. You've built diligence plans, coordinated expert workstreams, and synthesized findings into decision-ready packages.
• Ability to build a thesis from ambiguous inputs. Anduril's data environment is messy and the production landscape is evolving fast — you need to be comfortable with incomplete information and iterating as you learn.
• Comfortable navigating cross-functional relationships — you'll work across CorpDev, supply chain, engineering, quality, and division production leadership.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. You will present to VP/SVP-level production leadership regularly.

Ideal Backgrounds (in order of preference)

• CorpDev at a defense prime or diversified industrial: You've run acquisitions from inside an operating company. You understand how deals fit into a broader production strategy, not just a financial portfolio. You've done plant visits, managed integration PMOs, or assessed manufacturing synergies. This is the sweet spot.
• Defense-focused PE (mid-level): Associate or VP at a fund like Veritas Capital, Carlyle's A&D group, or similar. You've done operational diligence on defense/industrial targets and understand production risk assessment. Note: this background is strong but comp expectations may be challenging.
• Management consulting with M&A/operations focus: Post-MBA or equivalent from a firm with strong industrial practice (McKinsey, Bain, A&M). You've done commercial or operational diligence on manufacturing companies and want to move to the operating side.

What This Role Is Not

• This is not a financial modeling role. You won't be building LBO models or running accretion/dilution analysis — CorpDev handles that.
• This is not a pure strategy role. You will be on-site at target facilities, in data rooms, and on the phone with target company operations leaders.
• This is not a CorpDev role that happens to sit in Production. The skillset is deliberately different — production and manufacturing expertise is what differentiates us.

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:

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 .