VP Manufacturing Engineering

Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa, CA

Apply on Anduril Industries ↗

Level: Director+
Team: Manufacturing
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 15+ years
Industry: Aerospace & defense
Posted: 2 days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A director-level manufacturing role at Anduril Industries (aerospace & defense) in Costa Mesa, CA.

They ask for: 15+ years · degree required

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 $111k–$173k.

Median of the low and high ends of 175 live postings that list pay, out of 446 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 445 other live manufacturing postings in California.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: More than usual (15+ vs 5+)

Skills these teams ask for most

Tooling 51%
New product launch 45%
Root cause 39%
Automation 35%
Machining 27%
Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 26%

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

It asks for 15+ 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 Costa Mesa

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

Required qualifications

✓15+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing engineering, production operations, or industrial engineering within a hardware/physical-product environment, with 5–7+ years at the executive level (VP or Senior Director) leading multi-team or multi-site organizations.
✓Exceptional presentation, interpersonal, and stakeholder management skills; capable of aligning C-suite leaders and motivating frontline operators alike.
✓Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing, Electrical, or Aerospace Engineering (or a related engineering/technical discipline). Master's degree or MBA preferred.
✓Eligible to obtain and maintain a DoD Security Clearance.

Preferred qualifications

✓Experience navigating high-mix/low-volume transitions into high-volume/mass delivery.
✓Background in fast-paced, high-accountability sectors (e.g., aerospace, defense, deep-tech, autonomous systems, high-growth industrial tech).

$252,000 — $382,000 USD

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 .

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.

✓Please always verify communications:
✓Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.
✓Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to contact@anduril.com .

Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.

What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you

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.

About the job

The Vice President, Manufacturing Engineering holds executive accountability for defining, scaling, and optimizing all aspects of manufacturing engineering across the entire Anduril enterprise. This role encompasses strategic development, execution of multi-year operational roadmaps, technological and process advancement, and organizational leadership across all product lines, production sites, and divisions. The VP will ensure consistent, rapid, and high-standard execution, driving efficiency, scale, and performance that directly contribute to Anduril's mission and market leadership. This role sits centrally and is responsible for ensuring that every division builds against a common standard.

What you’ll do

•Own the overarching manufacturing engineering strategy, operational roadmap, and resource budget for Anduril's centralized manufacturing engineering organization.
•Develop and champion a multi-year scaling strategy to meet exponential growth targets, changing operational constraints, and evolving customer demands.
•Strategically allocate resources (talent, capital, systems, facilities) across competing priorities, balancing urgent tactical needs with long-term capability building.
•Establish and enforce the enterprise standard for how Anduril builds production line operation, manufacturing systems usage, process design, and engineering practice, and hold division production leadership accountable to it.
•Own the roadmap for centralized capabilities, ensuring they are built to scale across product lines.
•Partner with and influence the VPs and Heads of Production across all divisions, setting technical direction for organizations that do not report to you.
•Drive consistency in how manufacturing engineering roles are defined, leveled, and expected to perform at every Anduril site, and deploy leadership and IC talent across the enterprise accordingly.