Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Drones

Anduril Industries · Santa Ana, CA

Level: Senior
Team: Manufacturing
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 5+ years
Industry: Aerospace & defense
Posted: Today

The role in 30 seconds

A senior manufacturing role at Anduril Industries (aerospace & defense) in Santa Ana, CA. You will support products from the early design phase, develop/improve the manufacturing process and support production ramps for several products.

They ask for: 5+ years · degree required
Tools it names: Machining, Time studies, Capacity planning, CATIA / NX
Openings: 2 with this title at this site

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026

Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $112k–$168k.

Median of the low and high ends of 147 live postings that list pay, out of 388 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 387 other live manufacturing postings in California.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: Typical (5+ years)

Skills these teams ask for most

Tooling 52%
New product launch 47%
Root cause 38%
Automation 35%
✓ CATIA / NX 27%
✓ Machining 27%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for Time studies, Capacity planning, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

It asks for 5+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Anduril Industries
We found 2 people at this company and state: 2 in this kind of role. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓
2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
Write to Kevin → (free)
3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: Anduril Industries in Santa Ana

33 other open roles at this site · 2 people we found in manufacturing roles at Anduril Industries.

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Head of Production, Maritime · Production · Director+
Field Operations Engineer, Deployment Handling · Production
Quality Technician, Maritime Production · Quality · Technician
Industrial Engineer, Maritime Manufacturing · Industrial

All 34 roles at Anduril Industries →

Full description from Anduril IndustriesAs posted on their careers site.Show

Required qualifications

✓Degree in a technical field such as engineering, math, or a hard science
✓5+ years in manufacturing or similar position
✓An attitude of world-class mission assurance, quality, attention to detail, and dedication
✓A genuine interest in manufacturing and thirst for learning
✓Demonstrated ability to creatively deliver hardware in a resource-constrained environment
✓Personal experience physically manufacturing hardware via any means (machining, fabrication, soldering, assembly, etc.). Work on personal or extracurricular projects is a plus
✓Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance

Preferred qualifications

✓Experience building successful production operations from scratch, often working with very little definition
✓Harness & PCBA fabrication experience or proven competency in mechanical system design and analysis
✓Hands-on experience with R/C and/or autonomous flight vehicles, flight controllers, or other related control systems.
✓Software scripting experience in any language.
✓Experience in NX/Teamcenter

requirements

of applicable state and local laws, including the CA Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We actively encourage members of recognized minorities, women, Veterans, and those with disabilities to apply, and we work to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all applicants throughout the interview process. If you are someone passionate about wo

Show full description ↓

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Drones

Job descriptions

Manufacturing Engineer, Drones

Summary - about the team / job

Anduril’s Drones department is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Engineer to join our team. Anduril’s Drones team is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Manufacturing Engineer to join our rapidly growing team. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for bridging the gap between cutting-edge design and efficient, high-volume production for our advanced Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) like Bolt, Ghost, Anvil, and future autonomous platforms.

As a Manufacturing Engineer in Drones, you will support products from the early design phase, develop/improve the manufacturing process and support production ramps for several products. You will have opportunities to own large projects from cradle to grave. The right person for this role has a high level of ownership and drive to improve their skills as a Manufacturing Engineer.

What you’ll do

•Support the transition of products from concept to prototype, pilot, and full production with speed, flexibility, scalability, and first-time quality.
•Provide daily sustaining support to ensure each product line performs as intended, including real-time problem-solving related to mechanical fitment issues, electrical and harnessing issues, as well as software and firmware issues.
•Work with design engineers during the development process to drive design for manufacturing best practices into the design effort, and help facilitate the transition from design to prototype to rate production.
•Own documentation required for successfully manufacturing products at scale such as MBOM’s, work instructions, process flows, floor plans, time studies, capacity analysis, etc.
•Collaborate with internal customers and manufacturing planning teams to define capacity planning actions to meet customer needs and expectations.
•Work hand in hand with the broader production team to solve complex issues to ensure customer demand is met.
•Analyze metrics for continuous improvement initiatives (cost reduction, QI reduction & capacity increase).
•Instill a culture of innovation, teamwork, and accountability within the manufacturing engineering product team.
•Travel to suppliers and partner sites to do initial sourcing work, solve ongoing production issues, and implement process procedures as required.