Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Drones

Anduril Anduril · Defense · Costa Mesa, CA · Manufacturing : Manufacturing Engineering : Manufacturing Engineering

This role manages the manufacturing engineering team for drone products, focusing on bridging the gap between design and high-volume production. Responsibilities include developing strategic plans for production capabilities, ensuring manufacturability of new designs, selecting and commissioning manufacturing equipment, driving continuous improvement, managing budgets, and serving as a technical expert for manufacturing engineering issues. The role requires leadership in scaling missile platforms from development to full rate production and ensuring mission assurance and quality.

What you'd actually do

  1. Lead the manufacturing engineering team across multiple product variants, setting goals, providing direction, and evaluating performance, from initial prototyping through large full-scale production
  2. Develop and execute strategic plans for production capabilities, incorporating new technologies and methodologies
  3. Interface with key external customers in communicating the strategic vision and plans for building and scaling multiple missile platforms from development to full rate production
  4. Own documentation required for successfully manufacturing product group hardware at scale, such as work instructions, inspection plans & requirements, etc.
  5. Collaborate with product development teams to ensure manufacturability of new designs and smooth transition from prototype to production

Skills

Required

  • Degree in a technical field such as engineering, math, or a hard science
  • 8+ years in manufacturing or similar prototyping position
  • Experience developing products from scratch and successfully scaling to production in industry leading timeframes
  • Proven track record of leading teams, developing new products and processes, and cradle to grave ownership
  • Demonstrated in-kind or direct team leadership skills, with backing examples
  • An attitude of world-class mission assurance, quality, attention to detail, and dedication
  • A genuine interest in manufacturing and thirst for learning
  • Demonstrated ability to creatively deliver hardware in a resource-constrained environment
  • Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

Nice to have

  • Experience building or transforming successful production operation organizations and leading large-scale change management initiatives that influence culture, define tools & processes and improve competencies
  • Harness & PCBA fabrication experience including prior work with or setup/modification/monitoring SMT processes
  • Experience leading and managing teams on fast-paced, complex projects
  • Hands-on experience with R/C and/or autonomous flight vehicles, flight controllers, or other related control systems
  • Software scripting experience in any language
  • Experience in NX/Teamcenter

What the JD emphasized

  • scaling multiple missile platforms from development to full rate production
  • cradle to grave ownership
  • world-class mission assurance
  • quality
  • attention to detail
  • dedication