Systems Engineer - Payload Lead

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.

The Maneuver Dominance team is building Thunder - an autonomous attack rotorcraft built to fight alongside crewed combat aviation to deliver overwhelming mass effects deep beyond the front lines. The team in London builds the Mission System and the autonomy that makes aircraft like Thunder work.

Autonomy is only as good as the link that carries it. Thunder is a compact airframe with weapons, sensors and radios competing for the same antenna real estate, flying low and in formation, in a spectrum that is actively contested. That is the problem you would own.

Anduril is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer - Payloads Lead to join the Maneuver Dominance team at our Costa Mesa HQ. The Maneuver Dominance (MD) Team at Anduril develops aerial robotic systems designed to operate in large coordinated teams in concert with ground maneuver forces. We leverage existing Anduril drone platforms like Ghost, Altius, or Roadrunner, in addition to bringing 3rd party platforms into Anduril’s Lattice ecosystem.

We develop perception and autonomy algorithms to solve some of the hardest problems facing our customers.

As the Payload Lead, you will own the payloads portfolio across the Thunder platform, leading multiple payload and weapon integration teams and driving cross team architecture, interfaces, and product execution. Work closely with the Mission Systems Lead and Mission Autonomy Lead to align payload capability with vehicle and mission software, and serve as the primary technical relationship owner with external weapon and payload suppliers and integration partners.

Own staffing, prioritization, and delivery across the payloads org. This is a unique opportunity to grow your expertise in one of the most challenging and differing engineering domains; large autonomous air vehicles.

• Own the overall payloads architecture and roadmap across all weapon and payload systems integrated onto the platform
• Lead and grow multiple payload integration teams, each responsible for a specific weapon or payload module
• Develop program plans, estimates, and schedules across the payloads portfolio
• Drive cross team interface consistency in electrical (1553/1760), structural and mechanical, software, and datalink domains across all payload teams
• Own staffing plans, hiring, and resource allocation across the payloads organization
• Own product execution across payload work streams, including prioritization, roadmap, delivery tracking, and cross team dependency management
• Partner closely with the Mission Systems Lead and Mission Autonomy Lead to align payload capability, interfaces, and timelines with vehicle management and autonomy software
• Serve as primary technical relationship owner with customers, contractors, and external weapon and payload suppliers, covering commercial terms, technical scope, and delivery commitments
• Own or delegate stores management system (SMS) and fire control architecture standards applied consistently across payload modules
• Drive modular, open architecture…