Field Operations Manager, Commercial

Anduril Industries · Irvine, CA

Level: Manager
Team: Production
Travel: 50%
Experience asked: 6+ years
Industry: Aerospace & defense
Posted: 21 days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A management production role at Anduril Industries (aerospace & defense) in Irvine, CA. Meticulous, resourceful, and detail-oriented, you will manage every step of the deployment lifecycle across an expansive site footprint: site survey, RF and power planning, sensor and effector siting, coverage modeling, pack-out, installation, integration.

They ask for: 6+ years
Tools it names: Robotics
Day to day: about 50% travel

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Production Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $122k–$177k.

Median of the low and high ends of 37 live postings that list pay, out of 111 production 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 110 other live production postings in California.

Base pay: Not listed in this posting
Experience asked: More than usual (6+ vs 5+)

Skills these teams ask for most

New product launch 37%
Lean 30%
Root cause 27%
Automation 24%
Python 22%
Team leadership 22%

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

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

It asks for 6+ 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 Production team at Anduril Industries
We found 2 people at this company and state: 1 in this kind of role, 1 leaders. 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 Aaron → (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?
- The posting says about 50% travel. Between which sites?
- 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 Irvine

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

What you'll do

◆Deployment planning and execution: You will orchestrate large-scale, persistent C-UAS installations — leading a cross-functional team that spans hardware supply, logistics, engineering, and more to achieve mission success for Anduril and our customers. Meticulous, resourceful, and detail-oriented, you will manage every step of the deployment lifecycle across an expansive site footprint: site survey, RF and power planning, sensor and effector siting, coverage modeling, pack-out, installation, integration, test, training, and long-term sustainment. You consistently demonstrate extraordinary judgment, grit, and composure in high-pressure situations. You anticipate every contingency, soberly assess and mitigate risk, and deliberately learn from your experiences to continuously improve.
◆Playbook-driven deployment methodology: You will build and own the standardized playbooks, SOPs, and installation templates that make fixed-site deployments repeatable at scale. You codify the site survey, siting, integration, acceptance-test, and sustainment procedures into lightweight, disciplined processes that any deployment team can execute consistently across sites. You treat each deployment as an opportunity to refine the playbook — capturing lessons learned, closing gaps, and driving the methodology toward a predictable, auditable standard.
◆Site security coordination: You will serve as Anduril's primary interface to on-site security teams, facility management, and installation stakeholders. You integrate our capability into the site's existing physical security and force-protection posture — deconflicting sensor and effector placement, coordinating installation access and escorts, aligning on rules of engagement and response protocols, and ensuring our system reinforces rather than complicates the site's concept of security. You build the trust and shared operating picture that let Anduril and site security operate as one team.
◆Relationship management: Build trust with customers, industry partners, users, and Anduril teammates through effective communication, positive attitude, and follow-through. With careful listening and observation, you internalize your counterpart's priorities and requirements. With empathy and responsiveness, you quickly build rapport, trust, and confidence in our capability. You develop relationships across the organization and communicate honestly and directly. You are committed to giving and receiving feedback well. Your partners always know what you expect from them, and know exactly what to expect from you.
◆Mission expertise: Develop a deep knowledge of your customer's mission requirements, including the nature of the threats they face, airspace and regulatory challenges, resource constraints, rules of engagement, and the specific demands of defending fixed, high-value sites. You will become a subject matter expert and the voice of the customer, capable

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 team

The Air Defense team builds robots that find other robots and knock them out of the sky. At a time when air superiority can no longer be taken for granted, the Air Defense team provides mission critical capabilities to warfighters. From detection to tracking, identification, deterrence, and defeat, our family of networked sensors and effectors enables our customers to rapidly close the kill chain against a broad range of UAS threats. Working across product, engineering, business development, logistics, operations, and mission success, the Air Defense team develops, tests, deploys, and sustains the Anduril Air Defense Family of Systems in challenging operational environments worldwide.

About the job

In your role as a Field Operations Deployment Manager on the Air Defense team, you are responsible for delivering and sustaining large-scale, fixed-site counter-UAS capability that protects our customers' most critical installations and infrastructure. You own the end-to-end execution of persistent, multi-sensor, multi-effector deployments across expansive site footprints — and you ensure the system delivers when our customers need it most.

You fulfill this responsibility through rigorous operational execution, detail orientation, proactive communication, deep mission understanding, and hard-won product expertise. Because fixed-site deployments are enduring rather than transient, you build repeatable, playbook-driven methodology that turns each installation into a standardized, auditable, and continuously improving process — not a one-off. You feel ownership over the health and performance of all assets and technologies deployed to your sites, and you coordinate tightly with on-site security organizations and facility stakeholders to integrate our capability into the site's broader security posture.

You represent Anduril to our customers, building their confidence and trust through your professionalism and commitment to excellence. You also represent our customers back to Anduril, communicating user feedback and lessons learned to continuously improve our product and our team in response to evolving mission needs. Above all, you set the standard for what good looks like for your deployment team, and you rally your Anduril teammates to meet that standard every single day.