Anduril Industries

Senior Technical Program Manager, Design Engineering

Anduril Industries$160K — $220K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years in technical program management, NPI, or design-to-production roles in complex hardware environments.
  • Experience in blocking or redirecting engineering releases based on production readiness assessments.
  • Technical knowledge in hardware design and manufacturing processes to effectively challenge engineering on producibility.
  • Proven experience managing engineering change processes (ECO/ECN) and understanding their impacts on cost and schedule.
  • Ability to build or interpret quantitative models that guide design and production decisions.
  • Familiarity with version control, scripting, and scalable workflows for reproducible analysis.
  • Eligibility to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

  • Own the schedule and cost performance for engineering-to-production transitions.
  • Drive engineering release readiness with strict criteria and block unready releases.
  • Collaborate with change management to assess ECO/ECN impact on production metrics.
  • Track and resolve engineering changes affecting production, holding accountability for rework rates.
  • Lead design-for-manufacturability (DFM) reviews to ensure producibility is addressed pre-design lock.
  • Develop measurable systems for evaluating engineering-to-production handoffs, including yield and cost impacts.
  • Employ quantitative models like trade studies to inform production-design decisions.
  • Prepare technical documents and analyses for internal teams and stakeholders.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive, competitive benefits package available at little to no cost for employees.
  • Support in health and recovery initiatives.
  • Opportunities for growth and development to ensure career progression.
Full Job Description
ABOUT THE TEAM

The Air Dominance and Strike Division is one of Anduril's fastest growing, most technically complex divisions. We develop and build collaborative combat aircraft, missiles, and the software that powers these autonomous weapons. We are scaling production of a first-of-kind autonomous aircraft. Every design decision becomes a production outcome, and this role owns that connection.
ABOUT THE JOB

Your job is to make the handoff from design to production predictable, fast, and right the first time.

Success in this position hinges on three key facets:
  • NPI and change management discipline - you drive NPI and sustaining engineering changes through the system with clear release criteria, honest impact assessments, and hard gates when something is not ready. You work with the change management team to trace every engineering decision to its production outcome.
  • Technical depth to challenge engineering - you understand producibility well enough to see a problem before it hits the floor. When first-pass yield drops because of a design choice, you either prevented it or are already driving the fix.
  • Speed across organizational boundaries - you drive decisions between engineering and production faster than the cadence allows. Both teams trust you because you are rigorous, prepared, and right. You do not wait for alignment to happen organically.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
  • Own the schedule and cost performance of engineering-to-production transition for NPI and sustaining changes
  • Drive engineering release readiness with clear criteria, blocking releases that are not production-ready
  • Work with the change management team to assess ECO/ECN impact on production schedule, cost, and rework
  • Track and drive resolution of engineering changes with downstream production impact, owning rework and retrofit rate accountability
  • Drive DFM reviews and ensure producibility is addressed before designs lock, not after
  • Build the systems that make engineering-to-production handoff measurable: first-pass yield, change-driven rework costs, and schedule impact of engineering decisions
  • Leverage quantitative models (trade studies, sensitivity analysis on tolerances and process capability) to inform design-for-production decisions
  • Prepare technical documentation, analysis reports, and briefings for internal teams, customers, and government stakeholders
  • Maintain reproducible analysis pipelines using version control, scripting, and scalable workflows
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
  • 5+ years in technical program management, NPI, or design-to-production roles in complex hardware environments
  • Demonstrated experience blocking or redirecting engineering releases based on production readiness assessment
  • Technical depth in hardware design and manufacturing processes sufficient to challenge engineering on producibility
  • Experience managing engineering change processes (ECO/ECN) and tracing change impact to cost and schedule
  • Comfortable building or interpreting quantitative models to inform design and production trade decisions
  • Familiar with version control, scripting, scalable workflows, and reproducible analysis practices
  • Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
  • Experience in aerospace, defense, or autonomous systems NPI and production transition
  • Proficiency with data tools such as Palantir Foundry, PLM systems, or custom analytics stacks
  • Background in trade studies, tolerance analysis, or process capability modeling applied to DFM decisions
  • Experience scaling NPI processes from prototype to rate production
  • Familiarity with complex electromechanical, avionics, or composite manufacturing processes


US Salary Range

$160,000-$220,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you're supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

About Anduril Industries

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company that develops advanced systems for the military. The company was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, Trae Stephens, and Matt Grimm, and has since grown to become a major player in the defense industry. Anduril's products include autonomous drones, surveillance systems, and other advanced technologies that are designed to enhance military capabilities. The company has received significant funding from investors and has partnerships with several major defense contractors. Anduril is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Learn more about Anduril Industries
Size
200 employees
Industry
Founded
2017

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