Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Propulsion

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

Top-tier benefits

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Staff Manufacturing Engineer for Propulsion to own manufacturing excellence across propulsion hardware, including turbine, ramjet, and solid rocket motor systems.

The role emphasizes producibility, cost reduction, and supplier qualification, with cross-functional work alongside design, quality, supply chain, and test teams. A US person with deep propulsion manufacturing expertise is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical, Materials Science, or related field.
• 12+ years' propulsion manufacturing or related experience with expertise in air-breathing turbines, ramjets, or solid rocket motors.
• Knowledge of propulsion manufacturing processes (casting, brazing, welding, propellant processing, nozzle) and producibility reviews.
• Experience evaluating propulsion designs for manufacturability and translating findings into design improvements.
• Experience with supplier qualification and production readiness assessments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as propulsion manufacturing SME across AD&S programs covering turbines, ramjets, and solid rockets.
• Lead or support DFM/DFA reviews to drive manufacturability improvements.
• Collaborate with design and manufacturing engineers to translate constraints into actionable feedback.
• Assist in supplier qualification and contract manufacturer assessment for propulsion hardware.
• Support propulsion test campaigns from a manufacturing perspective, including instrumentation integration and anomaly resolution.
• Develop cost models and identify cost-reduction opportunities in propulsion assemblies.
• Define inspection plans and process controls with quality engineering.
• Collaborate with supply chain on long-lead materials and risk mitigation.
• Mentor junior/mid-level engineers on propulsion manufacturing principles.

Skills

Propulsion manufacturing

DFM/DFA analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Quality systems

Mentoring junior engineers

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace/Materials Science

Master's or PhD in propulsion-related field

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.

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.