Naval Architect Co-op - Winter 2027

Anduril; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 36,000 - 44,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

Equity grants

Health and recovery support

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks candidates for a role focused on designing and testing next-gen Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in Costa Mesa, California. Candidates should possess a background in naval architecture or marine engineering, with experience using analysis tools like Maxsurf or Rhino.

This opportunity offers a starting salary range of $40, competitive benefits, and requires U.S. Person status for access to controlled data. Join a team dedicated to advancing military capabilities and innovative technology.

Qualifications

• Must be pursuing a degree in naval architecture, marine engineering, or related technical field.
• Coursework in ship hydrostatics, resistance, or stability is required.
• Hands-on experience building or testing hardware is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Run parametric resistance analysis on candidate hull variants.
• Build a volume budget for planned payloads and subsystems against available hull volume.
• Size primary structure according to ABS or DNV rules.

Skills

Naval architecture

Marine engineering

Mechanical engineering

Ship hydrostatics

Hydrodynamics

CAD software knowledge

Education

Pursuing a degree in naval architecture, marine engineering, or related field

Tools

Maxsurf

Rhino

Orca3D

GHS

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.

Anduril Maritime designs and builds the next generation of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) from the ground up. The exceptionally large AUV program develops a large-displacement vehicle. Work with a small team of engineers who design, build, and test their own hardware.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Hull form resistance study - Run parametric resistance analysis (Maxsurf or similar) on candidate hull variants. Deliverable: trade space of drag vs. displacement vs. speed across candidate geometries.
• Internal volume and arrangement trade study - Build a volume budget for planned payloads and subsystems against available hull volume, confirming the arrangement fits and the vehicle is hydrostatically supported (weight vs. displacement, longitudinal balance and trim). Deliverable: volume allocation budget, weight and buoyancy balance, and packing arrangement for a candidate vehicle configuration.
• Structural scantling analysis - Size primary structure (frames, shell plating, bulkheads) for a defined section of the vehicle to ABS or DNV rules. Deliverable: midship section drawing plus structural weight and material estimate.
• Stability and loading conditions - Develop the equilibrium polygon for a candidate vehicle configuration. Deliverable: surfaced GZ curves and submerged equilibrium polygon.
• Deployment / recovery system concept design - Mechanical and naval-architecture design for launch and recovery of a subsystem (buoy, UUV, or payload module). Deliverable: concept sketches, loads analysis, mechanism sizing.
• Propulsion system trade study - Compare propulsion architectures (electric drive, mechanical, hybrid) against program mission profiles. Deliverable: trade matrix scoring efficiency, weight, cost, and complexity.
• Producibility / manufacturing study - Assess hull fabrication approaches (plate cutting, forming, welding sequences) for a defined hull block. Deliverable: build strategy, production-hours estimate, tooling requirements.

These projects are program-focused examples, not a limit on scope.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Pursuing a degree in naval architecture, marine engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related technical field
• Coursework or project experience in ship hydrostatics, resistance, structures, or stability
• Working knowledge of naval-architecture analysis tools (e.g., Maxsurf, Rhino, Orca3D, GHS, or equivalent)
• Ability to define and deliver a self-contained engineering artifact in 8 weeks with mentor support
• Hands‑on experience building or testing hardware via any means (machining, fabrication, assembly, model building). Work on personal or extracurricular projects is a plus.
• U.S. Person status is required as this position needs to access export controlled data

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Familiarity with classification society rules (ABS, DNV) for structural scantlings
• Experience with CAD (SolidWorks, Rhino) and FEA for structural sizing
• Coursework or project work in submarine/AUV hydrodynamics, propulsion, or launch and recovery systems
• Software scripting experience in any language (Python, MATLAB)

US Salary Range: $40 – $40 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:

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.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.

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.