Senior Materials Engineer, Composites

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology.

As a Senior Materials and Process Engineer, you'll work across multiple programs simultaneously, supporting design and manufacturing teams with the materials expertise they need to make confident engineering decisions.

Responsibilities

• 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