Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Propulsion

Anduril; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa, CA is seeking a Propulsion Manufacturing Engineer (Senior or Staff) to ensure propulsion hardware can be manufactured, assembled, tested, and integrated at production rate with the quality and reliability our programs demand.

You will collaborate with design engineers and program manufacturing engineers to evaluate designs for producibility, drive DFM improvements, and support supplier qualification and propulsion test campaigns from a manufacturing perspective.

Responsibilities

• 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, driving DFM/DFA reviews and design changes.
• Work with design engineers and program manufacturing engineers to translate propulsion constraints into actionable feedback.
• Assist in the selection and qualification of propulsion suppliers and contract manufacturers, assessing capability and quality systems.
• Conduct supplier manufacturing assessments including facility reviews, process audits, and production readiness evaluations.
• Develop manufacturing process requirements and standards for propulsion-specific processes such as turbine components, combustor fabrication, propellant processing, and nozzle manufacturing.
• Support propulsion test campaigns from a manufacturing perspective, including hardware prep, instrumentation, acceptance criteria, and anomaly resolution.
• Develop should-cost models and cost-driver analyses to reduce unit cost at rate production.
• Partner with quality engineering to define inspection plans and process controls for propulsion hardware, including NDT and material certification.
• Collaborate with supply chain to align manufacturing requirements with sourcing strategy and long-lead material planning.
• Close the loop between production and test feedback, supplier performance data, and upstream design improvements.
• Build propulsion manufacturing knowledge within the ME organization, developing training materials and lessons-learned databases.

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 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 refere