Lead Scientist, Discovery

Visa Hunt; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 253,000 - 336,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a Lead Scientist to shape cross‑business opportunities at the intersection of counter‑UAS, tactical networking, autonomy, sensing, command‑and‑control, and advanced technology development.

This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who can identify emerging mission needs, shape concepts, engage customers, and translate early‑stage opportunities into executable programs across defense and national security markets.

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level or higher technical background with deep domain knowledge in defense tech.
• Proven ability to translate ambiguous mission needs into executable concepts and programs.
• Experience working with defense, intelligence, homeland security, or national security customers.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical lead for cross‑business growth initiatives involving cUAS, networking, autonomy, sensing, C2, and advanced mission systems.
• Identify, shape, and mature new opportunities across Anduril business lines with product, engineering, strategy, and capture teams.
• Develop technical concepts, architectures, white papers, briefings, and demonstrations that connect customer needs to Anduril capabilities.
• Engage with senior government, military, and industry stakeholders to translate operational gaps into technical strategies.
• Lead early‑stage technical solutioning for new pursuits, including system architecture and CONOPS.
• Help define roadmaps in distributed sensing, autonomous defense, mesh networking, and resilient communications.
• Support live demos, exercises, and customer engagements to prove capabilities in realistic environments.
• Work across teams to combine products into integrated mission solutions and provide technical leadership for proposals and campaigns.
• Mentor engineers on mission architecture, customer problem framing, and technical strategy.

Skills

TS/SCI clearance

12+ years experience

Technical leadership

Mission engineering

Customer engagement

Education

PhD in engineering or related field

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 TEAM

The Discovery team at Anduril is at the forefront of incubating and maturing high-potential, software-defined, AI-native offerings that meet the toughest, newest challenges across hardware, software, space, and cyber domains. We're the architects of mission autonomy and mesh networking, delivering scalable hardware solutions that meet some of the most urgent national security needs. By working hand-in-hand with elite teams in Perception, AI, Motion Planning, Hardware, Test Engineering, Space, Networking, and Vehicle hardware, we craft cutting-edge, end-to-end systems that redefine mission success.

ABOUT THE JOB

Anduril is seeking a Lead Scientist to help shape and grow cross‑business opportunities at the intersection of counter‑UAS, tactical networking, autonomy, sensing, command‑and‑control, and advanced technology development. This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who can operate across product lines, customers, engineering teams, and business development efforts. The ideal candidate combines deep technical judgment with the ability to identify emerging mission needs, shape technical concepts, engage customers, and translate early‑stage opportunities into executable programs. This role is not traditional business development. It is a technical growth role for a mission‑focused scientist, engineer, or technologist who can connect operational problems to differentiated Anduril capabilities and help create new programs across defense and national security markets.

• Serve as a senior technical lead for cross‑business growth initiatives involving cUAS, networking, autonomy, sensing, C2, and advanced mission systems.
• Identify, shape, and mature new opportunities across Anduril business lines, working closely with product, engineering, strategy, capture, and customer‑facing teams.
• Develop technical concepts, architectures, white papers, briefings, and demonstrations that connect customer mission needs to Anduril capabilities.
• Engage with senior government, military, and industry stakeholders to understand operational gaps and translate them into actionable technical and programmatic strategies.
• Lead early‑stage technical solutioning for new business pursuits, including system architecture, integration approach, CONOPS, experimentation plans, and technical differentiation.
• Help define and mature advanced technology roadmaps in areas such as distributed sensing, autonomous defense, mesh networking, resilient communications, electronic warfare, and counter‑UAS defeat chains.
• Support live demonstrations, exercises, experiments, and customer engagements that prove capability in operationally relevant environments.
• Work across Anduril teams to combine existing products and emerging technologies into integrated mission solutions.
• Provide technical leadership for proposals, capture activities, strategic campaigns, and new program formation.
• Mentor engineers, technologists, and program teams on mission architecture, customer problem framing, and technical strategy.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 12+ years of experience in advanced technology development, defense systems, applied research, mission engineering, product development, or technical program leadership.
• Deep technical expertise in one or more of the following areas: counter‑UAS, tactical networking, resilient communications, autonomous systems, sensors, command‑and‑control, electronic warfare, distributed systems, or advanced defense technology.
• Demonstrated ability to move from ambiguous mission needs to executable technical concepts, architectures, prototypes, demonstrations, or programs.
• Experience working directly with defense, intelligence, homeland security, or national security customers.
• Strong understanding of operational mission threads, system integration, and how sensors, networks, autonomy, decision systems, and effectors come together in real‑world environments.
• Ability to communicate complex technical ideas clearly to senior technical, operational, and executive audiences.
• Experience supporting business development, capture, proposals, customer shaping, technology roadmaps, or new program creation.
• Demonstrated ability to work across organizations and influence teams without relying solely on direct authority.
• Must hold an active U.S. TS/SCI clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD in engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, physics, robotics, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, systems engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience leading advanced R&D, prototyping, experimentation, or transition of technology into operational programs.
• Experience with cUAS kill chains, air defense, integrated sensing, RF systems, EW, kinetic/non‑kinetic defeat, or autonomous intercept concepts.
• Experience with tactical networks, mesh communications, datalinks, edge compute, distributed C2, or resilient mission connectivity.
• Experience developing concepts across multiple Anduril‑relevant domains, including air, land, maritime, space, cyber, and homeland defense.
• Prior experience as a principal investigator, chief engineer, lead scientist, technical director, DARPA performer, service lab lead, or senior technical capture lead.

$253,000 — $336,000 USD

Benefits

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.