# Programs Chief Engineer

**Company**: Anduril Industries
**Location**: Costa Mesa, California, United States
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $254,000-$336,000 USD
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/andurilindustries/jobs/5115371007?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_fed360f1-2d8

## Description

As the Programs Chief Engineer, you will lead the technical vision, architecture, and execution for our Dive-XL autonomous underwater system within a major US undersea defense program. You will be responsible for defining and driving the system's architecture, technical roadmap, and overall engineering excellence. You will lead a multi-disciplinary team of high-performing engineers, ensuring that the system meets stringent performance, reliability, and mission requirements in challenging maritime environments.

Your responsibilities will include:

- Technical Leadership & Vision: Define and articulate the technical vision and strategic roadmap for the system, ensuring alignment with Anduril's broader Dive-XL Core Platform and customer needs.

- Architectural Design Authority: Serve as the ultimate technical authority for the system architecture, design decisions, and critical trade-offs across all engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software, autonomy, acoustics, materials).

- System Integration & Performance: Oversee the end-to-end development lifecycle, from requirements definition and conceptual design through detailed design, integration, test, and deployment.

- Test & Evaluation: Define and oversee the test and evaluation strategy, including acceptance criteria, test readiness reviews, and support to customer acceptance testing.

- Technical Problem Solving: Lead the resolution of complex technical challenges, acting as a hands-on expert and guiding teams through difficult design, integration, or operational issues.

- Team Mentorship & Development: Provide technical mentorship, guidance, and critical review for engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation, excellence, and rigorous problem-solving.

- Risk and Opportunity Management: Identify, assess, and mitigate technical risks throughout the program lifecycle, developing contingency plans and advising program leadership.

- Customer & Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a primary technical point of contact for internal stakeholders, customers, and partners. Clearly communicate complex technical information, program status, and strategic direction.

- Cross-Site Coordination: Collaborate closely with the AU Chief Engineer counterpart to ensure technical alignment across program variants, share lessons learned, and maintain architectural consistency.

- Requirements Management: Ensure robust requirements decomposition, traceability, and verification plans are in place for all subsystems.

- Innovation & Research: Stay abreast of cutting-edge technologies, research, and industry trends relevant to autonomous underwater systems, incorporating best practices and innovative solutions.

To be successful in this role, you will need to have:

- 15+ years of experience in the design, development, integration, and deployment of complex autonomous systems.

- 5+ years of demonstrated experience as a Chief Engineer, Technical Director, Lead Architect, Engineering Fellow, or equivalent senior technical leadership role on a major hardware/software program.

- Proficiency in systems engineering principles, including requirements management, interface control, verification, and validation.

- Proven ability to lead and mentor highly technical, multi-disciplinary engineering teams.

- Exceptional communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

- Must be able to obtain and maintain a US Secret Clearance.

Preferred qualifications include:

- Deep expertise across multiple AUV sub-domains, such as hydrodynamics & propulsion, power systems, underwater acoustics & communications, navigation & perception, autonomy & control, materials science & corrosion, mechanical design, software architectures, and active US Secret Clearance or higher.

- Experience with the full lifecycle of US Navy and DoD acquisition programs.

- Demonstrated understanding of the NAVSEA technology adoption processes and its application to defense acquisition, particularly as it relates to technical requirements, risk management, and program execution.

- Experience with system safety engineering practices (e.g., MIL-STD-882) and familiarity with submarine/AUV safety certification processes.

- Familiarity with cybersecurity best practices for autonomous systems.

- Expertise in AI/ML applications for AUV autonomy, perception, and decision-making.

- Experience with advanced manufacturing techniques for marine systems.

## Skills

### Required
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Aerospace Engineering
- Robotics
- Computer Science
- Systems Engineering
- Requirements Management
- Interface Control
- Verification
- Validation

### Nice to have
- Hydrodynamics & Propulsion
- Power Systems
- Underwater Acoustics & Communications
- Navigation & Perception
- Autonomy & Control
- Materials Science & Corrosion
- Mechanical Design
- Software Architectures
- AI/ML Applications
- Cybersecurity Best Practices

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