Materials and Process Engineer, Air Dominance and Strike

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

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA is seeking a Materials & Process Engineer to own material selection and manufacturing processes for primary and secondary airframe structures. You’ll guide bonding, coatings, and composite layup from design through production, while influencing standards and documentation with senior engineers.

The role involves evaluating materials against weight, cost, and manufacturability, contributing to trade studies and DFMA considerations, and supporting manufacturing

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, or related industry.
• Foundational knowledge of materials science and structural engineering principles
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes relevant to airframe hardware (bonding, machining, coating, surface finishing, composites, fastening)
• Willingness to work in a dynamic environment and iterate quickly
• Strong time management, organizational, and communication skills
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US DoD Secret Clearance or higher

Responsibilities

• Own material selection and compliance for primary and secondary structural parts (metallic and composite) alongside the structures engineers designing them, from preliminary design through prototype manufacturing and production
• Execute against established processes for bonding, surface prep, coatings, fastening, and composite layup on airframe hardware
• Contribute to structural trade studies by weighing material and process choices against weight, performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule
• Apply design-for-manufacturing thinking so structural solutions are producible at rate
• Contribute to material and process standards, approved materials lists, and common procedures used across air vehicle programs
• Author sections of technical documentation such as specifications, procedures, test reports, and vendor requirements, with review and mentorship from senior engineers
• Support review of vendor and subcontractor build records for materials and process compliance
• Design and run testing to characterize materials and process performance, including bond strength, coupon-level mechanicals, and environmental exposure
• Coordinate with internal and external test labs on characterization and failure analysis
• Reduce and analyze test data, draw defensible engineering conclusions, and communicate them clearly to structures and manufacturing engineering
• Provide onsite engineering support at manufacturing and integration sites, including root-causing process issues, dispositioning non-conformances, and closing loops with structures and manufacturing
• Support failure reviews and root cause investigations alongside more senior engineers

Skills

2+ years aerospace/defense experience

Materials science fundamentals

Manufacturing processes for airframe

Strong time management & communication

DoD clearance eligibility

Education

B.S. in Materials Science, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry or related field

Tools

Siemens NX

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.

The Team

The Air Dominance and Strike Aerostructures Engineering Team designs and analyzes advanced structural parts for Group 5 air vehicles and missile platforms. The team owns the full development lifecycle, from conceptual through detailed design and analysis of primary and secondary structures, building high-performance, resilient, scalable mechanical systems that meet the demands of complex, contested environments. As the M&P engineer on this team, you’ll own the materials and process side of that work: selecting materials, executing processes, and qualifying the metallic and composite hardware that our structures engineers design.

What You’ll Do

Material & Process Ownership

• Own material selection and compliance for primary and secondary structural parts (metallic and composite) alongside the structures engineers designing them, from preliminary design through prototype manufacturing and production
• Execute against established processes for bonding, surface prep, coatings, fastening, and composite layup on airframe hardware
• Contribute to structural trade studies by weighing material and process choices against weight, performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule
• Apply design-for-manufacturing thinking so structural solutions are producible at rate

Standards, Documentation & Vendor Interface

• Contribute to material and process standards, approved materials lists, and common procedures used across air vehicle programs
• Author sections of technical documentation such as specifications, procedures, test reports, and vendor requirements, with review and mentorship from senior engineers
• Support review of vendor and subcontractor build records for materials and process compliance

Testing & Characterization

• Design and run testing to characterize materials and process performance, including bond strength, coupon-level mechanicals, and environmental exposure
• Coordinate with internal and external test labs on characterization and failure analysis
• Reduce and analyze test data, draw defensible engineering conclusions, and communicate them clearly to structures and manufacturing engineering

Manufacturing & Integration Support

• Provide onsite engineering support at manufacturing and integration sites, including root-causing process issues, dispositioning non-conformances, and closing loops with structures and manufacturing
• Support failure reviews and root cause investigations alongside more senior engineers

Required Qualifications

• B.S. in Materials Science, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, or related field
• 2+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, or a related industry (internship, co-op, or academic project experience counts toward the lower end)
• Foundational knowledge of materials science and structural engineering principles
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes relevant to airframe hardware (bonding, machining, coating, surface finishing, composites, fastening)
• Willingness to work in a dynamic environment, take direction from senior engineers, and iterate quickly
• Strong time management, organizational, and communication skills
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US DoD Secret Clearance or higher

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on shop skills, able to fabricate parts and fixtures in-house using mills, lathes, drills, band saws, and standard hand tools
• Familiarity with structural testing methods and experimentation, including ASTM test standards, load frames, strain gaging, and structural mechanics fundamentals
• Coursework or project experience in composites design, fabrication, or testing
• Exposure to Siemens NX or similar CAD
• Experience with fast-paced prototype fabrication, particularly of uncrewed aircraft
• Coursework or exposure to high-temperature materials selection
• Familiarity with material characterization techniques such as FTIR, SEM, TGA, and mechanical testing
• Practical aircraft knowledge (pilot’s license, A&P, RC/UAV building, etc.)

Salary

US Salary Range: 129,000 — 171,000 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.