Manager, Development Testing (drones)

Anduril Anduril · Defense · Costa Mesa, CA · Hardware Engineering : Hardware Test Operations : Dev Test

Manager for Development Testing of Drones at a defense technology company. Focuses on leading testing strategies, managing teams, ensuring compliance with aerospace and defense standards, and overseeing the product lifecycle for drone platforms and subsystems. Requires experience in hardware development/test engineering, leadership, and familiarity with industry-standard test guidance.

What you'd actually do

  1. Provide technical leadership and strategic oversight for the planning and execution of structural, dynamic, and environmental testing on drones.
  2. Direct and empower your team to lead complex test campaigns, including defining scope, allocating resources, approving test plans, overseeing test operations, facilitating data review, and guiding test equipment design/fabrication.
  3. Plan and schedule short- and long-term testing projects, ensuring efficient resource allocation, and risk capture aligned with product development milestones.
  4. Conduct final review and approval of all test documentation and reports, ensuring accuracy, integrity, and compliance with internal, client, and regulatory expectations.
  5. Provide technical guidance, conduct performance evaluations, and implement strategies for continuous improvement in team productivity, technical excellence, and professional growth.

Skills

Required

  • hardware development or test engineering
  • leadership or management capacity
  • hiring, mentoring, and developing high-performing engineering teams
  • safety-first culture
  • engineering first principles
  • complex system validation
  • Python
  • Matlab
  • labview
  • test automation
  • data analysis
  • instrumentation and control components
  • MIL-STD-810
  • SMC-S-016
  • NASA GEVS
  • BS, MS or PhD in an engineering discipline

Nice to have

  • drone architectures
  • avionics
  • flight control systems
  • propulsion
  • navigation
  • communications
  • payload integration
  • managing budgets, schedules, and resources
  • strategic planning
  • 3D modeling software
  • PLM (Siemens NX, Teamcenter, etc.)
  • fast-paced, high-growth R&D environment
  • developing novel solutions to complex testing issues
  • advancing test capabilities

What the JD emphasized

  • 10+ years of experience in hardware development or test engineering, with at least 2+ years in a leadership or management capacity.
  • Proven experience in hiring, mentoring, and developing high-performing engineering teams.
  • Demonstrated ability to foster a safety-first culture in a demanding test environment.
  • Expertise in engineering first principles and their application to complex system validation.
  • Proficiency in at least one coding language (Python, Matlab, labview, etc.) for test automation and data analysis, with experience guiding team members in these tools.
  • Familiarity with instrumentation and control components (accelerometers, load cells, thermocouples, pressure transducers, strain gauges, RTDs, and others) and experience guiding team members in their use and troubleshooting.
  • Familiarity with industry-standard test guidance - MIL-STD-810, SMC-S016, NASA GEVS, and experience driving compliance and best practices.