Senior Mechanical Engineer, Environmental Control Systems​/HVAC

Senior Mechanical Engineer, Environmental Control Systems/HVAC

Costa Mesa, California, United States

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.

We build shelters that go to the fight, and you'll own the systems that keep them livable and mission-capable when the environment is trying to shut them down. This is a rare seat: the chance to own an entire environmental control system end-to-end, from first-principles sizing calculations to the moment a soldier flips it on in the field, inside a small, tight-knit team that ships real hardware to real users.

Our TITAN and Menace I shelters are examples of the command posts, operations centers, and living spaces that warfighters depend on in the harshest environments on earth, and the HVAC/ECU is what makes them habitable and lethal. You'll go deep on vapor-compression systems, psychrometrics, and CFD, and wide across supplier partnerships, hands-on prototyping, and field testing alongside the operators who use what you build.

You'll also define the technical roadmap for what our ECUs look like five years from now. We move fast, we ship hardware, and we listen hard to the warfighter. If you've spent your career wanting deeper ownership over the systems you design, and you want to point that expertise at something that matters, this is the seat for you. If you're starting to feel excited about this, we invite you to read further and learn more!

What You'll Do

• Own Hardware:
  Take environmental control systems from concept through real-world use in the hands of warfighters.
• Drive the Supplier Relationship:
  Partner closely with our HVAC/ECU supplier to specify, evaluate, and refine hardware for our mission sets, driving requirements, reviewing designs, and making component and integration trade-offs.
• Build the In-House Capability:
  Establish the technical foundation and roadmap to bring HVAC/ECU design fully in-house over time.
• Size for Extreme Environments:
  Apply thermodynamics, heat transfer, and psychrometrics from first principles to size systems for high-ambient cooling, sub-zero heating, and high-latent-load conditions.
• Optimize with Analysis:
  Use CFD and thermal analysis to evaluate and improve airflow, coil performance, condensation management, and packaging in tightly constrained, ruggedized enclosures.
• Engineer for Survival:
  Apply first principles, analysis, and testing to make sure designs survive battlefield conditions (blowing sand, salt air, shock and vibration, and air/land/sea transport).
• Get Hands-On:
  Build and test prototypes and first articles yourself.
• Deliver at Scale:
  Iterate on your designs and work with suppliers and our manufacturing team to build and deliver them at volume.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience, with a focus in HVAC, refrigeration, or environmental control unit design.
• Demonstrated experience in vapor-compression system design (component selection, sizing, and integration of compressors, heat exchangers and coils, refrigerant circuits, and air-moving equipment).
• Strong grounding in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics.
• High competence with, and fluid use of, engineering first principles.
• Experience working with suppliers or vendors on hardware design and build.
• CAD skills (any platform) and the ability to produce high-quality engineering drawings.
• BS, M.Eng, MS, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled…