Principal Design Engineer

Anduril Industries; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 292,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries seeks a Senior Design Engineer to join the Space Special Programs team in Chantilly, VA. You will work on core technologies, subsystems, spacecraft, and complete space systems, mentoring the team and contributing as an individual contributor.

The role emphasizes ownership, hands-on engineering, and collaboration across disciplines, with opportunities for leadership and growth in a high-velocity defense tech environment.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of mechanical and mechanism design experience in a professional setting.
• 10+ years designing systems for spacecraft and associated space systems.
• Experience in ground-up system design and 3D CAD.
• Hands-on assembly, prototyping, testing, and performance characterization of mechanisms designed for 0g but in a 1g environment.
• Experience designing and building very small mechanisms, components, and systems.
• Familiarity with launch environments, testing for launch environments, range safety, and system integration efforts.
• Demonstrated creativity and "out of the box thinking" for spacecraft mechanisms with an eye toward simplicity and reliability.
• Strong competence with engineering first principles and problem solving.
• BS, MS or PhD in engineering, or equivalent work experience.
• U.S. Citizen and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Execute rapid evaluation of engineering concepts in a wide range of fields.
• Design, analyze, implement, and test complex electro-mechanical systems.
• Maintain high level system ownership with large levels of professional autonomy.
• Participate in design reviews, integration and test campaigns, launch-site and on-orbit operations campaigns.
• Build prototypes, analyze failures, and transition successful projects into production.
• Mentor engineers and help them learn spacecraft design and testing.
• Support critical hardware demonstrations with customers as needed.
• Travel to test sites as needed.
• Use first principles and personal experience as a basis for decisions.
• Identify partners in industry to engage with and manage early vendor relationships.

Skills

Mechanical design

Space systems design

Leadership

Prototyping

3D CAD

Ground testing

Launch readiness

First principles

Problem solving

Education

BS/MS/PhD in engineering

Tools

Machining

Oscilloscopes

Power supplies

Multimeters

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

In the Space Special Programs team, we build spacecraft and space systems which serve a wide variety of functions in the space architecture. At a time when space superiority can no longer be taken for granted and with space systems proliferating at an incredible rate, the Space Special Programs team provides advanced, mission critical capabilities to our customer base to be able to more effectively operate and survive within this expanding environment with limited personnel. Working across product, engineering, sales,logistics, operations, and mission success, the Space Special Programs team develops, tests, deploys, andoperatesnew, unique, space capabilities to drive mission success in challenging operational environments.

ABOUT THE JOB

Anduril is seeking a Senior Design Engineer to join the Space Special Programs team at our Chantilly, VA location. Here you will work on core technologies, subsystems, spacecraft, and complete space systems supporting the Space Special Programs team and core mission. This development includes but is not limited to optical systems, batteries, mechanisms, control systems, and sensors. The primary function of this role is to be a highly experienced resource to help implement and influence the team's development roadmap, be a resource for mentoring and growing the engineering team, and to be an individual contributor in both technical and strategic areas. This role requires high ownership and frequent collaboration with other core disciplines. The ideal candidate would be practical, hands-on and a self-starter, with significant experience designing, analyzing, building, and operating spacecraft mechanical, opto-mechanical, and both passive and active mechanisms - experience machining components is a significant plus. High growth potential is possible as well as additional leadership opportunities.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Execute rapid evaluation of engineering concepts in a wide range of fields
• Create solutions(with analysis, design, and experimentation)toblue-sky engineering problemsand targeted mission needs alike
• Design,analyze,implement, and test complex electro-mechanical systems
• MaintainHigh level system ownership with large levels of professional autonomy
• Participate indesign reviews,integration and test campaigns,launch-siteand on-orbit operations campaigns
• Build prototypes, analyze failures, and transition successful projects into production
• Mentor engineers and help them learn the art of small spacecraft design and test - teach them your mistakes so theywon'tneed to repeat them
• Support critical hardware demonstrations with customers as needed
• Travel to test sites as needed
• Use first principles,physics, and personal experienceas a basis for every decision
• Identifypartners in industry to engage with, and manage early vendor relationships

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in an immersive technical project (professional settings)
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• 20+ years ofmechanical and mechanism designexperience in a professional setting
• 10+ years designing systems for spacecraft and associated space systems
• Experience inground-upsystemdesign and any3-DCAD
• Hands-onassembly, prototyping, testing, and performance characterization of mechanisms designed for 0g but in a 1g environment.
• Experiencedesigning and buildingvery smallmechanisms, components, and systems.
• Familiarity withlaunch environments, testing for launch environments, range safety, andsystem integrationefforts
• Demonstrated creativity and "out of the box thinking" for spacecraft mechanismswith an eye toward simplicity and reliability
• High competence with, and fluid use of, engineering first principles
• Strong organizational skills
• BS, MS or PhD in an engineering field, or equivalent work experience
• Must be a U.S. Citizen andable to obtain andmaintaina U.S. Top Secret security clearance
• Ability to work within our company and team culture
• Ability to be pragmatic about problem solving

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experiencemachining andmodifyingmechanical components
• Outstanding leadership and interpersonal skills
• Familiarity with designingMGSE to support spacecraft testing and development
• Experience with Electro-Mechanicaldesign concepts and working at the interface between electrical and mechanical components
• Practical experience with electrical engineering tools (Oscilloscopes, power supplies, electronic loads, multimeters)
• 3+ years of experience working in a classified environment

US Salary Range

$220,000-$292,000 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.