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Salary: USD 220,000 - 292,000 / annual
Anduril Industries, a defense technology company, seeks a Director of Manufacturing Engineering to lead the strategic oversight and tactical management of manufacturing engineering and systems at its Waltham, MA facility. This role encompasses supporting both new product development and scaling high-volume production, with responsibility for ensuring rigorous manufacturing processes deliver superior quality products while meeting capacity commitments.
Key responsibilities include:
• Building and leading a high-performing manufacturing engineering team through recruitment, mentoring, and development, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Developing and implementing long-term manufacturing engineering strategy aligned with Anduril Imaging's growth objectives, driving adoption of automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and digital manufacturing tools to enhance efficiency and scalability.
• Leading New Product Introduction (NPI) efforts in partnership with R&D and product development teams, championing Design for Manufacturability (DfM) and Design for Assembly (DfA) principles early in the development cycle to de-risk production scaling.
• Evaluating, planning, and prioritizing supply chain, production, and test optimizations to ensure the value stream reliably meets production output goals. Developing business cases for vertical integration or supplier diversification where strategic partnerships accelerate scalability.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives to improve yield, reduce cycle time, and lower cost across the manufacturing value chain. Leading commonality optimization, component and supplier rationalization, and process standardization to simplify production at scale.
• Managing budgets, staffing, and capital equipment planning for the manufacturing engineering organization, forecasting headcount and operational needs to support rapid scaling, including classified production environments.
The role demands an innovative and adaptable approach to solving complex manufacturing challenges in a highly dynamic environment.
REQUIREMENTS:
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related technical field; Master's degree or MBA preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering and operations, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing manufacturing engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience owning manufacturing value chains for complex electro-mechanical or imaging hardware—defense, aerospace, or adjacent industries strongly preferred.
• Strong background in make-vs-buy analysis, contract manufacturer management, and supplier development for precision hardware.
• Experience managing NPI and scaling production in high-growth environments with condensed timelines.
• Familiarity with optical system integration and test, precision assembly, or imaging hardware manufacturing.
• Knowledge of automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and digital manufacturing tools.
• Familiarity with quality systems (ISO 9001/AS9100) and PLM, MES, and ERP systems.
• Hands-on experience physically manufacturing hardware (assembly, soldering, machining, fabrication, etc.).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.
