Anduril Industries

Technical Director of Test & Evaluation

Anduril Industries$220K — $292K *
Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field.
  • 5+ years of experience managing high-performing technical teams.
  • Experience in workload planning and resource management.
  • Deep knowledge of Pixhawk autopilot systems and ArduPilot stack.
  • Practical experience in small UAS operation and development.
  • Understanding of National Airspace System and UAS regulations.
  • Excellent communication and documentation skills.

Responsibilities

  • Build and lead a high-performing Rapid Integration and Test team.
  • Mentor and develop team members to foster continuous learning.
  • Identify skill gaps and strategically cross-train or hire talent.
  • Lead the design, construction, and testing of UAS prototypes.
  • Provide situation reports to leadership on project progress.
  • Streamline test plans while ensuring safety compliance.
  • Facilitate effective communication within the team and across the organization.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive and competitive benefits package with minimal cost to employees.
  • Supportive programs for health and recovery.
Full Job Description
This position is looking for a highly motivated Director of Test & Evaluation Engineering with emphasis in developmental test, with additional experience performing test lead/manager responsibilities. You will work heavily with the program leadership and a wide spectrum of cross-departments to help build and lead a team focused on solving hard problems and changing the industry forever. Anduril is a rapidly growing company, and the right person for this role should be able to thrive in a fast-paced environment with many competing priorities.

The Test and Evaluation team at Anduril works across the entire spectrum of products and business lines, as well as all flight operations and test range management. Our team conducts full system level development testing, new production acceptance testing, sub-component qualification testing and much more. In short, if it involves test, we support it. If you are interested in working in an extremely innovative and fast-paced environment, where your work directly makes an impact and difference in the products that are fielded, this is a fantastic opportunity.

WHAT YOU'LL DO
  • Serve as the Senior Director's primary technical advisor, maintaining a cross-divisional view of T&E readiness, risk, and capability gaps across Connected Warfare, Maritime, Air Defense, Intelligence, and Mission Systems.
  • Drive standardization of test architectures, methodologies, and acceptance criteria across software, hardware, and system-level testing-ensuring consistency without sacrificing development speed.
  • Act as connective tissue between division T&E efforts: identify where one division's test infrastructure, tooling, or lessons learned can accelerate another, and drive reuse.
  • Provide hands-on technical oversight of major qualification campaigns and developmental test programs, particularly those spanning multiple domains (e.g., autonomous maritime systems with air-defense integration).
  • Represent the T&E organization in technical reviews (e.g., TRRs, CDRs, PDRs) and program milestone gates, providing independent technical assessment and risk characterization.
  • Partner with data and software teams to improve test data pipelines, analysis tooling, and reporting-defining metrics that give leadership actionable visibility into test throughput, defect trends, and schedule risk.
  • Serve as a technical subject matter expert on multi-domain compliance frameworks (e.g., MIL-STD-810, DO-160, NAVSEA standards, MIL-HDBK-516), helping divisions navigate overlapping or conflicting requirements efficiently.
  • Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in how T&E work is planned, resourced, and executed. Build scalable processes and playbooks that let the organization grow without proportionally growing headcount.
  • Represent the T&E organization to military customers, government test agencies, and partner organizations as needed.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
  • 12+ years of experience in test and evaluation, system validation, or multi-disciplinary engineering programs spanning both software-intensive and hardware-intensive systems.
  • Demonstrated technical depth across multiple domains (air, maritime, ground, counter-UAS, intelligence, etc.), with hands-on experience in developmental test, system integration (HIL/SIL), environmental/structural testing, and instrumentation.
  • Experience with software-intensive system testing, including autonomy, AI/ML model validation, sensor fusion, or similar disciplines.
  • Working knowledge of relevant compliance frameworks (e.g., MIL-STD-810, DO-160, MIL-HDBK-516, NAVSEA standards) and the ability to navigate varied regulatory landscapes to enable rapid product deployment.
  • Proven ability to operate effectively without positional authority-influencing outcomes through technical credibility, relationships, and clear communication rather than org-chart power.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex, multi-domain requirements into unified, high-fidelity test solutions.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present technical risk, test readiness, and compliance status to executive leadership and military customers.
  • Eligible to obtain a Top Secret security clearance.
  • A "bias for action"-a drive to solve and fix problems

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
  • 15+ years of experience in Test & Evaluation or related technical fields
  • Experience in a rapid-growth or startup environment within the defense or aerospace sector.
  • Familiarity with test range operations, flight test, maritime operations, and vehicle certification (air/seaworthiness processes.
  • Background in data-driven T&E improvement-building dashboards, automating test reporting, or implementing test data platforms.
  • Experience supporting or participating in government-led operational test and evaluation (OT&E) events.


US Salary Range

$220,000-$292,000 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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