Manufacturing Test Engineer, Drones

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 129,000 - 171,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Manufacturing Test Engineer for the Drones team in Costa Mesa, CA. You will own production test flow, troubleshoot complex electrical issues, and drive automation improvements to boost throughput and test coverage across Bolt, Anvil, and Ghost drones.

You'll collaborate with Design, Quality and Manufacturing Engineering to resolve failures, develop RCCA actions, and contribute to early-stage test design for new products, while maintaining precise test equipment

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronics, Computer, Mechanical Engineering.
• 5+ years of relevant industry experience in manufacturing test and product sustainment.
• Experience with Linux-based test environments (Linux/Ubuntu/NixOS).
• Experience with PCBA testing standards and methods.
• Familiar with test equipment: power supplies, electronic loads, oscilloscope, function generators, spectrum analyzers, data acquisition and measurement sensors.
• Strong root cause analysis skills of non-conforming hardware.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Maintain ownership of test activities in production and ensuring production test flow. Provide hands-on troubleshooting efforts and resolve complex electrical issues found during testing.
• Maintain test capabilities across the manufacturing value stream - from system level checkouts and acceptance testing to key component level in process validation.
• Improve and sustain existing test systems to improve automation, consistency, total cycle time, and test coverage (DfM).
• Generate test work instructions that can be easily followed by technician team in MES. Train technicians on equipment use as required.
• Develop library of common failure modes with troubleshooting guide/diagrams for fast issue resolution.
• Determine root cause of product failures and recommend appropriate corrective actions (RCCA).
• Work with Design, Quality and Manufacturing Engineering teams to support customer returns and failure analysis.
• Contribute feedback to early-stage test design for test processes supporting early-stage products (NPI).
• Analyze test data, document results, and provide detailed reports to identify defects and areas for improvement.
• Collaborate with design engineers to provide feedback and recommendations for product enhancements based on test outcomes.
• Optimize test strategies for efficiency and effectiveness, reducing test time without compromising quality.
• Maintain and calibrate test equipment to ensure precision and reliability.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to enhance testing processes and methodologies.
• Execute testing as required.

Skills

Linux

Ubuntu

LabVIEW

NixOS

Root cause analysis

Test automation

Communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronics, Computer, Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscope

Power supplies

Electronic loads

Function generators

Spectrum analyzers

Data acquisition

Measurement sensors

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

As a Manufacturing Test Engineer on the Drones team you will be working directly with our Bolt, Anvil, and Ghost drones. You will be responsible for ensuring that we are testing our systems to stringent standards ensuring that we are consistently shipping the highest quality products to our customers. Additionally you will ensure that we are able to meet the required throughput requirements of production. In this role you’ll need to think creatively and come up with solutions to solve difficult testing problems and push to continuously improve our methods of automation, throughput, user interfaces, and data analytics.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Maintain ownership of test activities in production and ensuring production test flow. Provide hands‑on troubleshooting efforts and resolve complex electrical issues found during testing.
• Maintain test capabilities across the manufacturing value stream - from system level checkouts and acceptance testing to key component level in process validation.
• Improve and sustain existing test systems to improve automation, consistency, total cycle time, and test coverage (DfM).
• Generate test work instructions that can be easily followed by technician team in MES. Train technicians on equipment use as required.
• Develop library of common failure modes with troubleshooting guide/diagrams for fast issue resolution.
• Determine root cause of product failures and recommend appropriate corrective actions (RCCA).
• Work with Design, Quality and Manufacturing Engineering teams to support customer returns and failure analysis.
• Contribute feedback to early‑stage test design for test processes supporting early‑stage products (NPI).
• Analyze test data, document results, and provide detailed reports to identify defects and areas for improvement.
• Collaborate with design engineers to provide feedback and recommendations for product enhancements based on test outcomes.
• Optimize test strategies for efficiency and effectiveness, reducing test time without compromising quality.
• Maintain and calibrate test equipment to ensure precision and reliability.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to enhance testing processes and methodologies.
• Execute testing as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronics, Computer, Mechanical Engineering, or related fields
• 5+ years of relevant industry experience with emphasis on manufacturing test and product sustainment.
• Familiarity with Linux, Ubuntu, LabVIEW, and NixOS.
• Experience with contract manufacturers in the testing of PCBA/electronic assemblies. Thorough knowledge of PCBA testing standards and methods.
• Familiarity with electronics test equipment such as power supplies, electronic loads, oscilloscope, function generators, spectrum analyzers, data acquisition and measurement sensors.
• Strong root cause analysis skills of non-conforming hardware.
• Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Familiar with Product Life Cycle (PLM) systems, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), and Test Execution Systems (TES)
• Experience working on projects that involve the integration of electrical, mechanical, and software/firmware systems.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 7+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Pursuing a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science or related field.
• Familiarity with Python, LabVIEW and/or MATLAB for data parsing and data visualization.
• Experience with test automation, PCBA design, and mechanical design.
• Experience with computer hardware communication protocols: USB, Ethernet, RS232, RS485, PCIe, HDMI, CAN, etc.
• Experience with ESS-related testing (Thermal, Vibration, etc.)
• Active Security Clearance

US Salary Range

$129,000 – $171,000 USD

Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

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.

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Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

• No Financial Requests:Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.

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• Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.

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By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.