Lead Mechanical Engineer

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full Family Health Coverage

16 Weeks Paid Parental Leave for All Caregivers

Professional Development

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Lead Mechanical Engineer to join their team in Costa Mesa, CA. This role involves leading product development for drones, overseeing technical execution, and mentoring engineering teams.

The ideal candidate will have over 7 years of experience in mechanical design, expertise in CAD, and proven leadership in technical roles. Benefits include full family health coverage, paid parental leave, and opportunities for professional development.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive mechanical/design experience, including leadership roles.
• Strong engineering judgment to optimize based on product maturity.
• Proficiency in designing for rugged environments and complex product scaling.

Responsibilities

• Lead core product development for drones and complex systems.
• Drive technical teams with leadership and mentorship.
• Perform root cause investigations for hardware failures.

Skills

Expert CAD skills

Leadership

Mechanical Design

Manufacturing Methods

Team Mentoring

Education

BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Solidworks

NX

PLM systems

Job description

Anduril is seeking a Mechanical Engineer, Lead to join the team at our Costa Mesa HQ.

• Lead core product development for drones and complex systems, including but not limited to optical gimbals, batteries, mechanisms, structures, sensors and payloads.
• This role requires expert‑level ownership of complete product integration and execution, with strategic influence across multiple teams and disciplines.
• Own complete integration and execution of complex products and product families from concept to full rate production.
• Drive the work of technical teams through technical leadership, mentorship, and strategic direction.
• Drive overall goals for product success through leadership and direction across disciplines.
• Identify needs and gaps, then define best practices and standards and deploy those broadly across the organization.
• Lead design reviews and drive buy‑in from cross‑disciplinary partners, serving as a trusted advisor.
• Provide technical guidance and leadership to multi‑disciplinary teams, shaping project direction and ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Perform advanced hand calculations and FEA to develop, assess, and optimize designs with engineering judgment appropriate to product maturity.
• Build prototypes, define and execute hardware test plans, iterate on designs, and produce authoritative technical documentation summarizing results.
• Perform root cause investigations for hardware failures and proactively identify and resolve conflicts in both technical and programmatic challenges.
• Balance operational needs across vehicle subsystems while optimizing for development speed, mass, manufacturability, cost, and long‑term sustainment.
• Lead adoption of new tools, methodologies, and manufacturing methods for step‑function improvements.
• Mentor engineers across teams and influence organizational technical strategy.
• Support critical hardware demonstrations with customers as needed.
• Travel to test sites and vendors as needed.

Benefits

• Full Family Health Coverage
• 16 Weeks Paid Parental Leave for All Caregivers
• Family Planning & Support
• Incentivized Time Off
• Mental Health Resources
• Financial Planning
• Unlimited Provisions
• Professional Development

Qualifications and requirements include:

• Proven ability to set the standard for technical work within a group.
• 7+ years of progressive mechanical/design experience, including 3+ years in technical leadership roles managing engineering teams.
• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent work experience.
• Expert CAD skills with exceptional quality suitable as templates and training materials.
• Expertise in structures, thermal management, and mechanisms, with depth in electrical integration.
• Strong engineering judgment to right‑size solutions based on product maturity.
• Proven track record of mentoring multiple teams and driving cross‑functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and communicate the full picture of technical value in terms of finance, impact, and position to the business.
• Excellence in delivering clear, complex ideas in writing and speech through polished technical documents, reports, and presentations.
• Expert in standard manufacturing methods with capability to explore adjacent fields, including designing for manufacturability and scale.
• Experience scaling and shipping complex products.
• Demonstrated wholistic ownership of challenging technical problems and multiple complete products or product families from concept through production.
• Ability to drive technical work through influence and leadership, with potential to transition into people management roles.
• Significant depth in one or two focus areas of Mechanical Engineering, building towards becoming an expert.
• Expert proficiency in Solidworks or NX, and PLM systems.
• Expert‑level experience designing for rugged environments.
• Exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to influence across the organization.
• Mastery of GD&T application and ability to define standards for others.
• Deep expertise in multiple manufacturing methods: CNC machining, composites, sheet metal, injection molding, PCBA integration, with ability to lead adoption of new methods.
• Strong understanding of electro‑mechanical and electrical design concepts.
• Extensive experience running qualification campaigns for flight hardware.
• Experience driving technological advancement toward future product families.
• Experience authoring responses to RFIs, proposals to customers and agencies, or white papers.
• This position requires eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.