Mechanical Engineer, Lead

About the Team

Anduril’s Tactical Recon & Strike (TRS) is a division with two missions: build highly capable autonomous drones, and build solid rocket motors  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 and hardware engineers who are excited to build across a diverse 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 environments.

Anduril is seeking a Mechanical Engineer, Lead to join the team at our Costa Mesa HQ. You will lead core product development for drones and complex systems, including optical gimbals, batteries, mechanisms, structures, sensors, and payloads. This role requires expert-level ownership of complete product integration and execution, with strategic influence across multiple teams and disciplines. The ideal candidate drives adoption of new methodologies, provides deep expertise, and sets the standard for technical excellence.

• Own complete integration and execution of complex products and product families from concept to full-rate production.
• Drive the work of technical teams through technical leadership, mentorship, and strategic direction.
• Drive overall goals for product success through leadership and direction across disciplines.
• Identify needs and gaps, then define best practices and standards and deploy those broadly across the organization.
• Lead design reviews and drive buy-in from cross-disciplinary partners, serving as a trusted advisor.
• Provide technical guidance and leadership to multi-disciplinary teams, shaping project direction and ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Perform advanced hand calculations and FEA to develop, assess, and optimize designs with engineering judgment appropriate to product maturity.
• Build prototypes, define and execute hardware test plans, iterate on designs, and produce authoritative technical documentation summarizing results.
• Perform root cause investigations for hardware failures and proactively identify and resolve conflicts in both technical and programmatic challenges.
• Balance operational needs across vehicle subsystems while optimizing for development speed, mass, manufacturability, cost, and long-term sustainment.
• Lead adoption of new tools, methodologies, and manufacturing methods for step-function improvements.
• Mentor engineers across teams and influence organizational technical strategy.
• Support critical hardware demonstrations with customers as needed.
• Travel to test sites and vendors as needed.

• 7+ years of progressive mechanical/design experience, including 3+ years in technical leadership roles managing engineering teams.
• Demonstrated wholistic ownership of challenging technical problems and multiple complete products or product families from concept through production.
• Experience scaling and shipping complex products.
• Expert CAD skills with exceptional quality suitable as templates and training materials.
• Expertise in structures, thermal management, and mechanisms, with depth in electrical integration.
• Proven ability to set the standard for technical work within a group.
• Expert in standard manufacturing methods with capability to explore adjacent fields, including designing for manufacturability and scale.
• Strong engineering judgment to right-size solutions based on product maturity.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and communicate the full picture of technical value in terms of finance, impact, and position to the business.
• Excellence in delivering clear, complex ideas in writing and speech through polished technical documents, reports, and presentations.
• Proven…