Senior Mechanical Engineer, Drones

Anduril

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Costa Mesa, California, United States First seen 1 day, 17 hours ago Last seen 5 hours, 20 minutes ago Greenhouse

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Job Description

AI Summary

• Design and develop mechanical subsystems for autonomous drone products from concept through production, including gimbals, batteries, mechanisms, structures, and payloads. • Conduct requirements gathering, trade studies, hand calculations, and FEA analysis to optimize designs for performance, manufacturability, cost, and mass. • Build prototypes, execute hardware test plans, investigate failures, and lead design reviews with cross-functional teams to drive iterative improvements. • Support customer demonstrations and manage hardware integration across vehicle subsystems while balancing development speed and operational needs. • Based at Costa Mesa HQ with high growth potential and leadership opportunities within Anduril's Tactical Recon & Strike division focused on autonomous systems and rocket motors.

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

Anduril’s Tactical Recon & Strike (TRS) is a division with two missions: 1) build highly capable autonomous drones, and 2) build solid rocket motors at scale. We transform products like Ghost, Anvil, Bolt, and Altius from early concepts into fully operational capabilities by partnering closely with specialist engineering, operations, and production teams. Through our Anduril Rocket Motor Systems (RMS) team, we design and manufacture solid rocket motors using advanced materials, proprietary formulations, and high-volume production methods—delivering safe, reliable propulsion systems that support a wide range of mission requirements. TRS hires software engineers & hardware engineers, who are excited to build across a diverse and powerful portfolio—from autonomous aerial systems to high-performance solid rocket motors. Our teams contribute to highly capable autonomous robotics systems and propulsion products that operate reliably in the most demanding mission environment.

ABOUT THE JOB

Anduril is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to join the team at our Costa Mesa HQ. Here you will work on core product development for drones and complex systems, including but not limited to optical gimbals, batteries, mechanisms, structures, sensors and payloads. The role requires high ownership and frequent collaboration with other core disciplines. The ideal candidate would be practical, hands-on and a self starter. High growth potential is possible as well as additional leadership opportunities.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Own complex mechanical subsystems for Anduril's drone products from concept to full rate production
Gather requirements and work through trade studies to determine the best solution
Perform hand calculations and FEA to develop, assess, and optimize designs
Lead design reviews and obtain buy-in from other cross-disciplinary partners
Build prototypes, define and execute hardware test plans, iterate on designs, summarize results and lessons learned
Perform root cause investigations for hardware failures in development and production
Balance operational needs across vehicle subsystems while optimizing for development speed, mass, manufacturability, and cost
Support critical hardware demonstrations with customers as needed
Travel to test sites and vendors as needed

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

8+ years of mechanical/design experience in a relevant capacity
Demonstrated ownership of a product from concept through production
Advanced CAD skills (any platform) and ability to make high quality engineering drawings that meet industry standards
Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals in structures, fluids, thermal, and mechanisms
Advanced proficiency in hands-on prototyping (machining, shop tools, welding, soldering)
Ability to summarize technical content in a cohesive way to help inform and shape future requirements
BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent work experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience in Solidworks or NX, and PLM systems
Solid understanding and application of GD&T
Advanced designing skills for CNC machining, composites, sheet metal, injection molding, PCBA integration
Outstanding leadership and interpersonal skills
Familiarity with running a qualification campaign for flight hardware
Familiarity with designing for rugged environments
Experience with electro-mechanical and electrical design concepts
Experience with Formula SAE, Baja SAE, Design Build Fly, etc.

US Salary Range

$146,000—$194,000 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:

Benefits

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.

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.
Please always verify communications:
- Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.
- Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to contact@anduril.com.
Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.
What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to contact@anduril.com. Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.

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Job Information

Company:
Anduril
Location:
Costa Mesa, California, United States
Job Type:
Full-Time
Experience Level:
Senior
Source:
Greenhouse
Status:
Active

Activity Score

78 /100

Likely Active (78)

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