Senior Materials Engineer, Composites

Costa Mesa, California, United States

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

Anduril's Materials Engineering team is seeking a Senior Materials and Process Engineer with a background in structural composites and bonded structures to join our rapidly growing team. Our team is the materials authority across Anduril's product portfolio, from autonomous aircraft and submarines to missiles and solid rocket motors, providing material selection guidance, developing design allowables, and qualifying manufacturing processes that take composite hardware from prototype to high-rate production.

ABOUT THE JOB

As a Senior M&P Engineer, you'll work across multiple programs simultaneously, supporting design and manufacturing teams with the materials expertise they need to make confident engineering decisions. You'll generate material allowables from test data, author and maintain material and process specifications, and support the transition from rapid prototype composite designs to highly scalable solutions as Anduril ramps production. This role reports directly to the Composites M&P subject matter expert and is a critical addition to a team that is currently supporting 20+ programs. If you're someone who thrives at the intersection of materials science and manufacturing, can move fast without cutting corners on data quality, and wants to see your work on hardware that gets fielded in months, this is the role.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

  • Generate material allowables and design values from mechanical test data to enable high-confidence structural analysis across multiple programs
  • Author and maintain material and process specifications for composite and ancillary materials, building out Anduril's composite material toolbox
  • Support material selection trades, evaluating composite material systems for performance, manufacturability, cost, and scalability
  • Design and execute statistically-driven test plans and characterization campaigns to substantiate materials and processes (coupon through component level)
  • Support the transition from thermoset to thermoplastic composite processes to enable high-rate production at scale
  • Provide materials and process guidance to design engineers - reviewing drawings, supporting structural analysis, and advising on design for manufacturability
  • Lead failure analyses and root cause corrective action investigations for composite material-related issues
  • Partner with manufacturing engineering to troubleshoot production issues, improve processes, and support fabrication trials
  • Coordinate with laboratory staff on materials characterization activities including mechanical testing, thermal analysis, and quality validation
  • Support supplier development, qualification, and performance monitoring for composite material vendors
  • Work with quality assurance to drive specification compliance and support process audits
  • Document experimental procedures and results; present findings to technical teams, stakeholders, and leadership

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor's degree or higher in Materials Science, Composites Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
  • 5-7 years of composite materials and process engineering experience in aerospace, defense, automotive, or related industries
  • Strong understanding of composite material systems including thermoset and thermoplastic matrices with continuous/discontinuous fiber reinforcement (carbon, glass, aramid)
  • Hands-on experience with composite manufacturing processes such as prepreg layup, autoclave/out-of-autoclave cure, resin transfer molding (RTM), heated press molding, stamp forming, or filament winding
  • Experience generating material properties through mechanical testing per ASTM standards and developing design allowables
  • Familiarity with materials characterization techniques and the building block approach (coupon through component level testing)
  • Strong technical writing skills — ability to author specifications, test reports, and process documentation
  • Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with design, manufacturing, and quality teams
  • Ability to obtain and hold a US security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience with thermoplastic composite materials and processes (stamp forming, consolidation, welding)
  • Working knowledge of CMH-17 (Composite Materials Handbook) for allowables development and data reduction
  • Experience supporting structural analysis teams with lamina/laminate level material properties
  • Prior experience qualifying composite parts or processes for production programs
  • Experience with nondestructive inspection methods for composite structures (ultrasonic, X-ray, thermography)
  • Familiarity with composite repair methods and procedures
  • Experience scaling composite manufacturing from prototype to high-rate production
  • Experience with adhesive bonding and surface preparation for composite assemblies

 

US Salary Range

$146,000 - $194,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including: 

 

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.

 

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