Lab Lead, Space

Anduril Industries, Inc.; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 147,000 - 196,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a hands-on Lab Lead for its Space Manufacturing team to oversee three lab spaces (space lab, temporary cleanroom, and new facility) across multiple sites. You will perform hands-on maintenance, gowning, contamination control, and equipment coordination to keep builds on schedule in a fast-paced environment.

You will work on HVAC, gas systems, safety compliance, and asset management while coordinating with vendors and growing the team as sites scale.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience maintaining and operating lab, cleanroom, or manufacturing facility equipment.
• Experience with mechanical, electrical, and facility systems including maintenance and troubleshooting.

Responsibilities

• Keep three Space Manufacturing lab spaces running day-to-day, including gowning, air showers, test bays, and storage.
• Perform hands-on maintenance and coordinate vendors for complex work.
• Run contamination-control routines for ISO 5–8 cleanrooms, including gowning and monitoring.

Skills

Hands-on lab experience

ISO cleanroom

Safety procedures

Calibration scheduling

Inventory management

Security clearance

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Technical training/certifications

Tools

HVAC systems

Chillers & compressors

DI water systems

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 JOB

Anduril's Space Manufacturing team is seeking a hands‑on Lab Lead to join our team. The Space Manufacturing team is responsible for the assembly, integration, and test of ground support equipment, PCBA, unit‑level, and integrated systems that are vital for our aerospace and defense operations. This role keeps the day‑to‑day operation, readiness, and discipline of our Space Manufacturing lab spaces running across three locations — our operational space lab, the temporary cleanroom now being built, and the new facility (graded ISO 5–8) now being built to support development and low‑rate builds of spaceflight hardware.

This is a working, hands‑on role — you are the person on the floor who keeps the labs and cleanrooms running. You will personally maintain and troubleshoot lab equipment and facility systems, run the gowning and contamination‑control routines, handle consumables and material flow, support safety and hazardous‑material handling, and keep each space ready for build and test. You will coordinate vendors and specialists for work beyond your scope, and over time you may help bring on and guide additional technicians as the sites scale — but the core of this job is doing the hands‑on work yourself to keep demanding lab and cleanroom environments operating to spec, in a fast‑paced, resource‑limited environment. If you are someone who likes to roll up your sleeves and be the person the floor relies on, this role is for you.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Keep the three Space Manufacturing lab spaces — the space lab, the temporary cleanroom (under construction), and the new facility (under construction) — running day‑to‑day, including gowning/anterooms, air showers, test bays, subassembly and assembly zones, and storage, so build and test run without facility‑driven downtime.
• Perform hands‑on maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of lab equipment and critical components, and coordinate specialists or vendors for work beyond your scope to keep equipment available through regularly scheduled maintenance.
• Run the day‑to‑day contamination‑control routines for each cleanroom (graded ISO 5–8): gowning and air‑shower discipline, particle monitoring, supporting certification cadence, and keeping consumables (garments, gloves, wipes) stocked and flowing.
• Operate and maintain cleanroom and facility support systems hands‑on — HVAC/air conditioning, environmental monitoring, compressed and specialty gases (including nitrogen purge), pumps, chillers, compressors, and DI water systems — taking readings, servicing on schedule, and coordinating vendors for larger work.
• Serve as the day‑to‑day, floor‑level safety point of contact: follow and enforce safe work practices, handle and store hazardous materials and specialty gases safely, ensure safety instructions are in place before hazardous lab work begins, and support EHS on chemical handling, permits, and inspections.
• Manage lab equipment, assets, and material flow: tool/fixture check‑in/check‑out and asset tracking, calibration/metrology scheduling (in‑house and via vendors), preventive maintenance, and receiving/kitting/stores/consumables flow in coordination with supply chain and quality.
• Keep each space audit‑ready: maintain cleanroom operating procedures, gowning and contamination‑control work instructions, safety procedures, and certification/monitoring records.
• Support the stand‑up and transition of work into the new facility as it comes online — help set up new areas, move and install equipment, and support the wind‑down of temporary space as capability moves.
• Partner day‑to‑day with AI&T, manufacturing engineering, and program teams to keep work and WIP moving across the sites, and communicate statuses, issues, and suggestions clearly.
• Over time, help onboard and guide additional technicians/specialists as the sites scale (potential growth into a team‑lead/people‑manager scope).

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 4+ years of hands‑on experience maintaining and operating lab, cleanroom, or manufacturing facility equipment and systems in a controlled production or lab environment.
• Hands‑on experience with mechanical, electrical, and facility‑systems — experience with diagnosing, maintaining, repairing, and troubleshooting equipment and building/lab systems (e.g., HVAC/air conditioning, pumps, chillers, compressors, DI water), and reading and interpreting procedures, manuals, and instructions.
• 2+ years of hands‑on experience working in or supporting an ISO‑classified cleanroom (ISO 5–8 or equivalent) or other contamination‑controlled environment, including gowning and cleanliness discipline.
• Hands‑on safety experience with hazardous‑material and compressed/specialty‑gas handling and storage, including serving as a floor‑ or lab‑level safety point of contact.
• Experience maintaining lab equipment and supporting calibration/metrology scheduling, preventive maintenance, and inventory/consumables flow to keep equipment available and reduce downtime.
• High school diploma or equivalent; technical training, trade certifications, military technical experience, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.
• In this role, you will be subject to pre‑employment and randomized substance screening, as required by the Company.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Hands‑on experience in aerospace, defense, semiconductor, medical‑device, or optics/sensor manufacturing, including support of prototype or flight‑hardware testing.
• Familiarity with ISO 5 (Class 100) operations and ESD precautions and cleanliness requirements for sensitive hardware.
• Experience helping stand up or set up a new lab or cleanroom, including equipment moves, installation, and setup.
• Hands‑on experience with specialty‑gas and pressure systems (e.g., regulators, pressure relief valves, nitrogen purge, gloveboxes) and hazardous‑waste handling/recycling programs.
• Prior experience as a team lead or supervising/scheduling a small facilities/technician team (growth path toward people‑management).
• Strong organization, multitasking, and documentation discipline, comfortable in a fast‑paced, resource‑limited environment.
• Active U.S. Secret or Top Secret security clearance.

US Salary Range

$147,000 - $196,000 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 .

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Anduril Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three‑year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.