Senior Software Engineer, Strategic Defense

Anduril-1; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 191,000 - 292,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company transforming U.S. and allied military capabilities with AI, autonomy, and advanced hardware. The Strategic Defense team builds software-defined command and control for rapid threat detection and response.

The Senior Software Engineer will work with elite peers on networking, autonomy, systems integration, and real-time data processing to redefine mission success for strategic capabilities. Eligible for U.S. Secret security clearance.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of production software experience
• Experience owning a feature end-to-end
• Ability to debug unfamiliar systems
• Comfort designing with incomplete requirements
• Ability to explain tradeoffs to diverse audiences
• Eligible to obtain/maintain US Secret clearance

Responsibilities

• Own software solutions deployed at the edge of innovation
• Write robust C2 software and scale capabilities
• Collaborate across engineering teams to plan, build, test features
• Turn user needs into features while balancing UX and constraints
• Travel 10–30% to deploy capabilities in the field

Skills

C++

Rust

Go

Python

End-to-end ownership

US security clearance eligibility

Education

CS/Math/Physics degree

Job description

Senior Software Engineer, Strategic Defense

Costa Mesa, California, United States; Huntsville, Alabama, United States; Irvine, California, United States; Reston, Virginia, United States; Seattle, Washington, United States; Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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

The Strategic Defense team at Anduril protects the United States and its allies from ballistic, hypersonic, and air-breathing threats. Those threats now arrive in seconds, maneuver mid‑flight, and come in volleys designed to overwhelm the legacy systems meant to stop them — so we're building a software‑defined command and control layer that can see, decide, and act faster than any human operator could alone. Our team spans autonomy, tracking, simulation and wargaming, hardware, systems engineering, and test and evaluation to build an accredited fire control system fielded rapidly and at scale. We are at the forefront of incubating and maturing AI‑native offerings for the integrated air and missile defense domain.

ABOUT THE JOB

This application is for established coders with 8+ years of experience who will breeze through live coding interviews and it does not require active clearance but you must be eligible.

As a Software Engineer in Strategic Defense, you will write code side‑by‑side with elite peers to solve a wide variety of problems involving networking, autonomy, systems integration, robotics, and more. You’ll make pragmatic engineering tradeoffs along the way to ensure Anduril products achieve a variety of desired outcomes in ambiguous situations where more is on the line than money or corporate gains. By working hand‑in‑hand with powerhouse teams in AI, Edge Hardware, Space Solutions, Networking, and Test Engineering you will craft cutting‑edge, end‑to‑end systems that redefine mission success for major strategic capabilities.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own software solutions that are deployed to customers at the edge of innovation and necessity
• Write code to improve robust C2 products and scale mission capabilities to broaden our impact
• Collaborate across multiple engineering teams to plan, build, and test functionality of complex systems
• Partner with end‑users to turn needs into features quickly while balancing user experience and engineering constraints
• Travel 10 - 30% with the team to build, test, and deploy capabilities in the real world where they’re needed most

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 8-12+ years writing production software in languages like C++, Rust, Go, or Python that real users or systems depend on
• You've owned a feature or service end-to-end including design, implementation, deployment, and dealing with it when it breaks
• You've debugged problems in code you didn't write and systems you didn't design
• You're comfortable making engineering decisions with incomplete requirements and revisiting them when reality disagrees
• You can explain technical tradeoffs to people who aren't software engineers (operators, hardware engineers, customers)
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• A desire to work on critical software that has a real‑world impact
• Exposure to robotics, distributed systems, networking, or real‑time systems
• Experience with mid and upper tier Air Defense Command and Control (C2) programs
• Have worked where software touches physical hardware
• Experience building software solutions involving significant amounts of data processing and analysis
• Degree in a relevant field like Computer Science, Math, or Physics
• Willing to travel up to 20% to Asia Pacific

US Salary Range

$191,000 - $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:

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.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Anduril Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.