Senior Flight Performance Engineer, Air Vehicles

Anduril Industries; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 166,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Equity grants

Support services at low cost

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, California is seeking an experienced engineer in aerodynamics to join the Air Dominance and Strike Aerodynamics Engineering Team. You will be responsible for the advanced design and analysis of unmanned air vehicles and missile platforms, ensuring high-performance systems in complex environments.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering and over eight years of relevant experience. The role includes responsibilities such as aerodynamic analysis, flight performance, and supporting flight tests.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience as an individual contributing engineer.
• Ability to travel as required for testing.
• Experience with aerodynamic modeling and performance analysis.

Responsibilities

• Conduct aerodynamic analysis of unmanned air vehicles.
• Support flight test planning and execution.
• Generate aerodynamic loads and performance modeling.

Skills

Aerodynamics analysis

Programming (MATLAB, Python)

Flight performance analysis

Data acquisition and analysis

Education

BS or higher degree in Aerospace Engineering

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, 3‑D command and control center.

About The Team

The Air Dominance and Strike Aerodynamics Engineering Team is responsible for the advanced aerodynamic design and analysis for Group 5 air vehicles and missile platforms. Engineers own the full development lifecycle, from conceptual design to flight test planning, execution and analysis, ensuring high‑performance, resilient, and scalable systems that meet the demands of complex, contested environments.

What You’ll Do

• Aerodynamics and flight performance of unmanned air vehicles/missiles
• Work with flight test team to support planning, execution and analysis of flight sciences focused testing
• Aerodynamic analysis of unmanned air vehicles, using both low‑ and high‑order methods, including analysis tool development and improvement as needed
• Stability and control analysis
• Aircraft performance modeling and simulation
• Aerodynamic loads generation

Required Qualifications

• BS or higher degree in Aerospace Engineering
• 8+ years work experience as an individual contributing engineer
• Ability to travel as required for testing
• Test experience including data acquisition, data analysis and project coordination
• Flight test param‑id (parameter identification) for aerodynamic modeling
• Experience with aircraft performance analysis and predictions
• Competent in a variety of aerodynamic analysis techniques including hand calculations, vortex lattice methods, panel methods, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
• Strong programming skills in higher‑level languages (e.g., MATLAB, Python) for internal tool development in a version‑controlled environment
• Experience preparing formal documentation (e.g., specifications, test procedures, technical reports, etc.)
• Possess and be able to maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with transonic and supersonic flow regimes

Salary Range

$166,000—$220,000 USD

Benefits

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 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 health, recovery, and other support services at little to no cost to employees.