Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Propulsion

Anduril Industries, Inc.; Costa Mesa (CA); Hybrid; USD 166,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries, Inc. is seeking a Staff Propulsion Manufacturing Engineer to oversee propulsion hardware manufacturing across AD&S programs.

You will influence designs for manufacturability, lead DFx reviews, and collaborate with design, manufacturing, QA, and supply chain teams to ensure production-ready propulsion systems. You will guide supplier qualification, support test campaigns, and develop cost-models to drive improvements while mentoring junior engineers and traveling to sites as

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• 12+ years of propulsion manufacturing, propulsion engineering, or related manufacturing discipline with expertise in at least one propulsion type.
• Strong technical knowledge of propulsion manufacturing processes relevant to your area of expertise (e.g., casting, welding, propellant processing, nozzle manufacturing).
• Experience evaluating propulsion designs for manufacturability and translating findings into measurable improvements.
• Experience evaluating or qualifying propulsion suppliers and performing production readiness assessments.
• Understanding of cost drivers in propulsion production and building/participating in should-cost models.
• Ability to read propulsion system drawings, specifications, and test requirements for manufacturing implications.
• U.S. Person with access to export controlled information or facilities.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a propulsion manufacturing engineering SME across AD&S programs, covering air-breathing turbines, ramjets, and solid rocket motors.
• Evaluate propulsion system designs for manufacturability, assembly, and cost—leading or supporting DFM/DFA reviews and driving design changes.
• Collaborate with design and program manufacturing engineers to translate propulsion constraints into actionable feedback.
• Assist in selecting and qualifying propulsion suppliers and contract manufacturers; assess capability, process maturity, and cost competitiveness.
• Conduct supplier manufacturing assessments for propulsion hardware, including facility reviews and special process qualification.
• Develop and maintain manufacturing process requirements and standards for propulsion-specific processes.
• Support propulsion system test campaigns from a manufacturing perspective, including hardware prep and anomaly investigation.
• Develop should-cost models and cost-driver analyses to reduce unit cost at rate production.
• Partner with quality to define inspection plans and process controls for propulsion hardware, including NDT and material certification.
• Collaborate with supply chain on long-lead material planning and risk mitigation.
• Close the loop between production, test feedback, and design/process improvements.
• Build propulsion manufacturing knowledge within ME organization and develop training materials.

Skills

Propulsion manufacturing

DFM/DFA reviews

Cross-functional collaboration

Supplier qualification

Cost drivers awareness

Mentor engineers

Travel availability

Education

Bachelors in Mechanical/Aerospace

Tools

NX

CATIA

SolidWorks

Job description

Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Propulsion

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 JOB

Anduril's Air Dominance & Strike (AD&S) Manufacturing Engineering team is seeking a Propulsion Manufacturing Engineer to provide subject matter expertise on propulsion system manufacturing across our portfolio of autonomous aircraft, cruise missiles, and loitering munitions. This position may be filled at either the Senior or Staff level depending on experience and qualifications. This role covers the full spectrum of propulsion technologies relevant to AD&S — air-breathing jet turbines, ramjets, and solid rocket motors — and is responsible for ensuring that propulsion hardware can be manufactured, assembled, tested, and integrated at production rate with the quality and reliability our programs demand.
You will bring deep expertise in the manufacturing processes, materials, and quality requirements specific to propulsion systems. Your knowledge of how these systems are built — from turbine blade casting and combustor fabrication to solid propellant processing and nozzle manufacturing — is what makes you valuable. You are the person who knows what can go wrong in propulsion production and how to prevent it through design influence, process control, and supplier qualification.
A critical part of this role is working directly with design engineers and program-level manufacturing engineers to evaluate propulsion designs for producibility, drive DFM improvements, and support the selection and qualification of propulsion suppliers and contract manufacturers. You will also support propulsion system test campaigns from a manufacturing engineering perspective, including integration, acceptance testing, and anomaly resolution. This is an inherently cross-functional role: you will work daily with supply chain, quality, operations, test engineering, and program teams.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Serve as a propulsion manufacturing engineering subject matter expert across AD&S programs, covering air-breathing turbines, ramjets, and solid rocket motors.
• Evaluate propulsion system designs for manufacturability, assembly, and cost — leading or supporting DFM/DFA reviews and driving design changes that improve producibility without compromising performance.
• Work directly with design engineers and program manufacturing engineers to translate propulsion manufacturing constraints into actionable design feedback.
• Assist in the selection and qualification of propulsion suppliers and contract manufacturers — assessing manufacturing capability, process maturity, quality systems, and cost competitiveness for propulsion-specific production.
• Conduct or participate in supplier manufacturing assessments for propulsion hardware, including facility reviews, process audits, special process qualification (casting, brazing, propellant processing, thermal spray), and production readiness evaluations.
• Develop and maintain manufacturing process requirements and standards for propulsion-specific processes including turbine component manufacturing, combustor and hot section fabrication, solid propellant mixing and casting, nozzle manufacturing, and propulsion system assembly and integration.
• Support propulsion system test campaigns from a manufacturing engineering perspective — including hardware preparation, instrumentation integration, acceptance test criteria, and post-test hardware disposition and anomaly investigation.
• Develop or contribute to should-cost models and cost-driver analyses for propulsion assemblies and components, identifying design and process changes that reduce unit cost at rate production.
• Partner with quality engineering to define or support inspection plans, acceptance criteria, and process controls specific to propulsion hardware — including non-destructive testing (NDT), dimensional inspection, and material certification requirements.
• Collaborate with supply chain to align propulsion manufacturing requirements with sourcing strategy, including long-lead material planning and sole/single source risk mitigation.
• Close the loop between production and test feedback, supplier performance data, and upstream design and process improvements.
• Build and maintain propulsion manufacturing knowledge within the ME organization — developing training materials, lessons‑learned databases, and technical reference documents.
• Mentor and develop junior and mid-level engineers on propulsion manufacturing principles and supplier assessment methods (Staff level).
• Travel to production sites, propulsion suppliers, and test facilities (~20%, depending on business needs).

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in propulsion manufacturing, propulsion engineering, or a closely related manufacturing discipline — with expertise in at least one propulsion type: air-breathing turbines, ramjets, or solid rocket motors.
• Strong technical knowledge of propulsion-specific manufacturing processes relevant to your area of expertise. Depending on specialty, this may include: investment casting and single‑crystal blade production, combustor and hot section fabrication (welding, brazing, thermal barrier coatings), solid propellant formulation, mixing, casting and curing, nozzle and throat insert manufacturing (ablatives, refractory metals, carbon‑carbon composites), ramjet combustor and inlet manufacturing, or propulsion system assembly, integration, and acceptance testing.
• Experience evaluating propulsion designs for manufacturability and translating findings into measurable improvements.
• Experience evaluating or qualifying propulsion suppliers — including special process qualification and production readiness assessments.
• Understanding of cost drivers in propulsion production, with experience building or contributing to should-cost models.
• Ability to read and critically evaluate propulsion system drawings, specifications, and test requirements for manufacturing implications.
• Working knowledge of relevant propulsion standards and specifications (MIL‑STD, SAE AMS, JANNAF, AIAA standards as applicable).
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally across design engineering, manufacturing engineering, test engineering, supply chain, quality, and operations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present technical findings to engineering leadership and drive alignment on design and process changes.
• Comfortable working across multiple programs simultaneously in a fast‑paced, high‑growth environment.
• Hands‑on experience with propulsion hardware — whether in a production, test, or integration environment. Technical credibility matters.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree or PhD in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or a propulsion-related field.
• Deep expertise spanning two or more propulsion types (turbines, ramjets, solid rocket motors).
• Experience in aerospace or defense propulsion production, particularly with qualified or flight‑critical hardware.
• Familiarity with AS9100/AS9102 quality management systems and their application to propulsion hardware.
• Experience with energetic materials handling, storage, and safety requirements for solid rocket motor production.
• Knowledge of propulsion system qualification processes (ground test, environmental qualification, lot acceptance testing).
• Background in advanced materials and processes relevant to propulsion: superalloys, ceramics, ablatives, composite overwrap, thermal protection systems.
• Proficiency in CAD software (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, or similar) sufficient to review designs independently.
• Experience with value engineering or formal cost reduction programs in a propulsion production environment.
• Currently possesses and is able to maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance with Full‑Scope Polygraph.

US Salary Range

$166,000 - $220,000 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.