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Air Vehicle Lead, Air Maneuver Dominance

Anduril· Maritime & Maneuver Dominance : Maneuver Dominance Engineering : MD - ME
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Costa Mesa, CA$191k - $253kFull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Lead Air Vehicle Engineer to converge technical efforts in developing an advanced airborne platform, focusing on vertical flight and integrating mission autonomy for a rotorcraft/air vehicle program.

Responsibilities

  • Execute rapid evaluation of engineering concepts across a wide range of aerospace disciplines
  • Perform trade studies and physics-based analysis of blue-sky engineering problems
  • Advanced design, configuration, implementation of a highly complex advanced air vehicle
  • Operate with extreme visibility and exercise a vast level of professional autonomy
  • Lead design reviews, run analysis, interface with vendors, define and execute hardware test plans
  • Build prototypes, analyze failures, and transition successful projects into production
  • Support critical software and hardware demonstrations with customers as needed
  • Use first principles physics as a basis for every decision
  • Ability to provide input across a variety of technical domains not limited to: aerodynamics, flight dynamics, GNC, aeroelastic, loads and dynamics

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Physics, or related technical discipline
  • Minimum of 8 years in technical leadership roles such as Technical Program Manager, Chief Engineer, Lead Engineer, or similarly relevant position
  • Leadership experience in engineering team management and project execution for aerospace or defense sectors
  • Deep experience developing VTOL platforms
  • Broad exposure to aircraft concepts, design layouts, static stability, control architectures and propulsion concepts
  • Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire cross-functional teams, fostering a collaborative environment that drives innovation and project success
  • Strong project management skills, with experience using tools like JIRA and Confluence, and knowledge of Agile and Waterfall methodologies
  • Exceptional communication and stakeholder management abilities
  • Knowledge of aircraft design principles, including vertical lift, as well as aircraft build and integration, and flight test execution/oversight
  • Hands-on experience with the development and deployment of autonomous systems, particularly in rotorcraft or large UAS
  • Eligible to obtain a U.S. Secret security clearance
  • Ability to travel up to 50% depending on the product lifecycle

Skills

Required:Aerospace engineering leadershipVTOL platform developmentSystems engineering and integrationProject management (JIRA, Confluence)

Benefits

  • Top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including comprehensive, competitive benefits package available at little to no cost to employees
Last updated Oct 21, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Anduril

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