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Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Propulsion

Anduril· Manufacturing : Manufacturing
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Costa Mesa, CA$166k - $220kFull-timePosted 3w ago

About the role

Propulsion Manufacturing Engineer within Anduril’s Air Dominance & Strike (AD&S) Manufacturing Engineering team, focused on propulsion systems across autonomous aircraft, cruise missiles, and loitering munitions. Responsible for manufacturability, process control, supplier qualification, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure production-ready propulsion hardware across air-breathing turbines, ramjets, and solid rocket motors.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as a propulsion manufacturing engineering subject matter expert across AD&S programs, covering air-breathing turbines, ramjets, and solid rocket motors.
  • Evaluate propulsion system designs for manufacturability, assembly, and cost — leading or supporting DFM/DFA reviews and driving design changes that improve producibility without compromising performance.
  • Work directly with design engineers and program manufacturing engineers to translate propulsion manufacturing constraints into actionable design feedback.
  • Assist in the selection and qualification of propulsion suppliers and contract manufacturers — assessing manufacturing capability, process maturity, quality systems, and cost competitiveness for propulsion-specific production.
  • Conduct or participate in supplier manufacturing assessments for propulsion hardware, including facility reviews, process audits, special process qualification (casting, brazing, propellant processing, thermal spray), and production readiness evaluations.
  • Develop and maintain manufacturing process requirements and standards for propulsion-specific processes including turbine component manufacturing, combustor and hot section fabrication, solid propellant mixing and casting, nozzle manufacturing, and propulsion system assembly and integration.
  • Support propulsion system test campaigns from a manufacturing engineering perspective — including hardware preparation, instrumentation integration, acceptance test criteria, and post-test hardware disposition and anomaly investigation.
  • Develop or contribute to should-cost models and cost-driver analyses for propulsion assemblies and components, identifying design and process changes that reduce unit cost at rate production.
  • Partner with quality engineering to define or support inspection plans, acceptance criteria, and process controls specific to propulsion hardware — including non-destructive testing (NDT), dimensional inspection, and material certification requirements.
  • Collaborate with supply chain to align propulsion manufacturing requirements with sourcing strategy, including long-lead material planning and sole/single source risk mitigation.
  • Close the loop between production and test feedback, supplier performance data, and upstream design and process improvements.
  • Build and maintain propulsion manufacturing knowledge within the ME organization — developing training materials, lessons-learned databases, and technical reference documents.
  • Mentor and develop junior and mid-level engineers on propulsion manufacturing principles and supplier assessment methods (Staff level).
  • Travel to production sites, propulsion suppliers, and test facilities (~20%, depending on business needs).

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
  • 12+ years of experience in propulsion manufacturing, propulsion engineering, or a closely related manufacturing discipline — with expertise in at least one propulsion type: air-breathing turbines, ramjets, or solid rocket motors.
  • Strong technical knowledge of propulsion-specific manufacturing processes relevant to your area of expertise. Depending on specialty, this may include: investment casting and single-crystal blade production, combustor and hot section fabrication (welding, brazing, thermal barrier coatings), solid propellant formulation, mixing, casting and curing, nozzle and throat insert manufacturing (ablatives, refractory metals, carbon-carbon composites), ramjet combustor and inlet manufacturing, or propulsion system assembly, integration, and acceptance testing.
  • Experience evaluating propulsion designs for manufacturability and translating findings into measurable improvements.
  • Experience evaluating or qualifying propulsion suppliers — including special process qualification and production readiness assessments.
  • Understanding of cost drivers in propulsion production, with experience building or contributing to should-cost models.
  • Ability to read and critically evaluate propulsion system drawings, specifications, and test requirements for manufacturing implications.
  • Working knowledge of relevant propulsion standards and specifications (MIL-STD, SAE AMS, JANNAF, AIAA standards as applicable).
  • Proven ability to work cross-functionally across design engineering, manufacturing engineering, test engineering, supply chain, quality, and operations.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present technical findings to engineering leadership and drive alignment on design and process changes.
  • Comfortable working across multiple programs simultaneously in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
  • Hands-on experience with propulsion hardware — whether in a production, test, or integration environment. Technical credibility matters.
  • Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities.

Skills

Required:Propulsion manufacturing expertiseDesign for manufacturability (DFM) / design for assembly (DFA)Supplier qualificationCross-functional collaboration

Benefits

  • Comprehensive, competitive benefits package available to full-time employees (health, recovery, and other coverage).
  • Explore Our Benefits information available at Anduril careers page.
Last updated Sep 30, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Anduril

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