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Salary: USD 143,000 - 191,000 / annual
Anduril Industries is seeking a Staff Manufacturing Engineer to drive enterprise-wide manufacturing strategy for the Barracuda autonomous air vehicle program at Arsenal-1, a hyper-scale manufacturing facility in Ashville, Ohio. This is a strategic technical leadership role at the intersection of hands-on electromechanical manufacturing expertise and program-level strategy.
You will lead the end-to-end technology transfer of Barracuda production from Anduril's Costa Mesa headquarters to Arsenal-1, designing production line layouts, process flows, MES architecture, and quality systems for high-rate output. You'll establish manufacturing process frameworks that become organizational standards, including RCCA systems, yield management programs, takt time structures, line balancing methodologies, and scaling playbooks.
Key responsibilities include: architecting production systems and line architecture for autonomous air vehicles at hyper-scale; leading transformational line optimization initiatives targeting step-change improvements in throughput, cost, and quality; defining and owning the MES strategy for Barracuda production; pioneering novel manufacturing approaches for complex electromechanical integration with potential for patent protection; directing large-scale capital improvement programs with multi-million dollar scope; developing comprehensive manufacturing technology roadmaps and evaluating emerging technologies; establishing manufacturing excellence models balancing efficiency, quality, and flexibility; leading breakthrough cost reduction programs; serving as the company's foremost authority on electromechanical manufacturing processes for Barracuda; developing technical career paths and mentorship programs for the manufacturing engineering organization; and representing Anduril's manufacturing capabilities to customers, partners, and industry bodies.
The role requires relocation to Costa Mesa, CA for an initial training program of up to 2 months with Anduril's world-class manufacturing team, with housing and transportation provided. You will then establish operations at Arsenal-1 in Ohio.
Barracuda is a family of air-breathing autonomous air vehicles (AAVs) consisting of Barracuda-100, Barracuda-250, and Barracuda-500, each offering increasing size, range, and payload capacity. All variants are compatible with various payloads and support multiple missions.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 12+ years in manufacturing of electromechanical hardware with progressive leadership of complex production programs and scaling operations
- Degree in engineering or technical field preferred, or equivalent depth of hands-on manufacturing experience
- Deep, demonstrated expertise in complex electromechanical integration at production scale (built, optimized, and scaled)
- Track record of standing up or transforming production lines: technology transfer, line design, process architecture, and ramp to rate
- Mastery of manufacturing process ecosystem: work instructions, MBOMs, RCCA, line optimization, takt time management, yield programs, MES strategy, and scaling operations
- Experience leading transformational manufacturing initiatives with enterprise-wide impact and multi-million dollar scope
- Proven ability to resolve complex technical challenges where no established solution paths exist
- World-class quality and mission-assurance mindset with judgment to balance competing priorities across quality, cost, schedule, and manufacturability
- Eligible to obtain and maintain active U.S. Secret security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- High-rate manufacturing background in aerospace, defense, automotive/EV, or similar high-volume precision environment
- Experience architecting production systems for new facility or major production line standup from ground up
- Exposure to aircraft, aerospace, and defense programs at strategic or program leadership level
- Harness and PCBA fabrication experience, including SMT process expertise at scale
- Hands-on experience with autonomous systems, flight vehicles, or related control systems
- Lean Six Sigma (Black Belt or higher); deep familiarity with J-STD-001, IPC-A-610, and IPC/WHMA-A-620
- Experience selecting, deploying, or architecting MES platforms for high-rate production environments
- Published work, patents, or recognized contributions to manufacturing technology advancement
- Software scripting ability in any language
- Current active U.S. Secret security clearance
