Chief Engineer, Space · Anduril Industries

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:46:32 GMT
Engineering

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, California, United States · $254,000 - $336,000 USD · onsite

We are seeking a Chief Engineer to join our rapidly growing space team in Costa Mesa, CA. As a technical lead, you will be responsible for driving technology developments through design, build, test and delivery for on-orbit operations across high dV propulsion systems, optical sensor suites, closed loop guidance and navigation and systems engineering in close concert with new and legacy ground software enterprises.

The Chief Engineer will develop a technical strategy and roadmap in conjunction with the Head of Engineering for Space Missions and the Growth/Strategy leads of the Space team that effectively leverages current Anduril technologies and newly developed technologies to serve the customer mission areas. This role will address pre-award demonstrations, early contract phases, and full-contract execution.

The Chief Engineer, working with a multi-disciplinary engineering team, will ensure the efficient development and delivery of hardware and software solutions for the customer. These efforts will include leading complex, integrated systems for on-orbit operations and demonstrations to include sub-contracted teammates and strategic partnerships.

The chief engineer will need to facilitate effective technical development and integration that spans company-boundaries in an agile development approach in the context of a continuous integration/continuous deployment paradigm. They will need to balance development of new capabilities with the incorporation of several pre-existing Anduril or industry capabilities and need to effectively communicate the development status to internal and external stakeholders.

The Chief Engineer will be responsible for technical oversight of all aspects of program execution from proposals to SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR, TRR, assembly, qualification testing, and delivery of flight units for launch. The Chief Engineer in conjunction with the Head of Engineering for Space Missions will assist in building out the necessary infrastructure for Anduril to execute on all necessary aspects a space based interceptor consisting of satellite and payload build and test to include working with external vendors for establishing test requirements and pass/fail criteria.

The Chief Engineer will also work closely with the Anduril Space C2 team to enable and deliver Space Ground C2 products to both the customer and to further Anduril’s penetration into customer ecosystems.

Key responsibilities include:

Providing technical expertise across multiple spacecraft subsystems and ground systems

Leveraging strategic partnerships and teammates for building out new products to satisfy customer requirements in new and challenging mission areas

Providing space industry expertise to refine and advance the Anduril Space Based Interceptor strategy for customer engagements and demonstrations

Contributing technical inputs to proposals to include engineering execution plans

Providing oversight to a multi-disciplinary team of engineers through all phases of program execution up to and including delivery and operation of capabilities on-orbit

Performing mission and system level trade studies and analysis to balance risk, cost, and performance

Required qualifications include:

Experience in architecting, developing, and delivering defense/IC satellite and space hardware and software systems

Experience in high dV spacecraft, dynamic space operations, space based sensing and understand mission operations for surveillance and reconnaissance at multiple orbits

Understanding of the recent/current technical state of key USSF and IC space systems and mission areas

Demonstrated ability to decompose complex systems with competing objectives (e.g., performance, schedule, openness, cybersecurity, MLS) into executable requirements and execution then delivering on those to meet government expectations

Experience with spacecraft standards for qualification testing and acceptance testing to include the use of GEVS, SMC-S-016 (MIL-STD-1540), etc.

Experience with US government space mission areas and associated CONOPS for successfully executing missions to enable space for the warfighter

Design and development of space vehicle and payload architectures and detailed mission solutions to complex space domain challenges

Strong technical communication skills, providing the ability to deliver critical technical briefings and conclusions to technical leadership, company leadership, and customers

Strong technical fundamentals in space systems, space ground infrastructure, and product development

Technical experience leading US Government contracts

Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

Salary: $254,000 - $336,000 USD