Chief Engineer, Fury Production | Arsenal-1

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Chief Engineer of Fury Production will lead production engineering strategy and execution for the production of Anduril's Fury autonomous unmanned aerial system (UAS). You will define and optimize production architectures for high-complexity aerospace-grade flight hardware, drive producibility improvements, partner with suppliers to resolve manufacturing challenges, and lead teams focused on cost reduction, manufacturing yield, and scalable processes for our advanced autonomous aircraft..

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Setting the technical vision and execution plan for production engineering across a major autonomous aerial system hardware program, specifically the Fury UAS.
• Driving producibility enhancements that improve yield, reduce cycle times, and lower unit cost for flight-critical components and systems without sacrificing quality or performance.
• Leading and mentoring cross-functional production engineering teams including manufacturing integration, tooling development, process engineering, quality engineering, and supplier support for aerospace production.
• Collaborating with internal stakeholders — systems engineering, design, supply chain, program management to ensure flight system design decisions enable manufacturability and assembly efficiency.
• Acting as the principal engineering interface to strategic suppliers of aerospace components, working together to identify issues, refine processes, and implement production improvements.
• Overseeing development and optimization of production tooling, automation solutions, and inspection/test strategies specifically for unmanned aircraft manufacturing.
• Communicating production readiness, engineering risks, and improvement plans for new autonomous aerial platforms to senior leadership.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Industrial, or Manufacturing Engineering.
• 10+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in aerospace, defense, or high-complexity flight hardware manufacturing environments, specifically within unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or autonomous flight system development and production programs.
• Proven experience leading production engineering teams and driving producibility improvements at scale, specifically for aviation or autonomous vehicle platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to work with suppliers on challenging manufacturing issues and implement technical solutions collaboratively for aerospace-grade components.
• Direct experience working with supplier quality engineering (SQE) and managing production systems at tier-1 aerospace suppliers.
• Strong track record of cost reduction, yield improvement, and process optimization in production, ideally within the aerospace or defense aviation sector.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing technologies: machining, composites/structures, additive manufacturing, assembly automation, tooling design, and production test, particularly as applied to aircraft production.
• Proven experience managing successful production transitions of new, autonomous, or highly integrated aerospace platforms from prototype to full-rate manufacturing of complex flight systems.
• Demonstrated knowledge and application of Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), and Lean/continuous improvement methodologies in an aerospace context.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with a data-driven, results-oriented mindset.
• Effective communicator capable of driving alignment across technical and business stakeholders.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Post-graduate degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in a relevant engineering discipline (Aerospace, Manufacturing, Systems Engineering).
• Demonstrated experience establishing entirely new production lines or factories for novel aerospace products, rather than just optimizing existing ones.
• Direct experience integrating AI/ML-driven processes into manufacturing and quality control workflows, enhancing automation and predictive maintenance.
• Expertise in advanced materials and manufacturing processes beyond composites and additive, such as high-temperature alloys, ceramic matrix composites, or specialized surface treatments for aerospace applications.
• Experience in a high-growth startup or rapid-prototyping defense environment, where adaptability and swift iteration of production methods are paramount.
• Professional certifications such as Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE), or equivalent advanced qualifications in manufacturing excellence and quality.
• Proven track record of managing production engineering across multiple concurrent, complex aerospace or autonomous systems programs.
• Familiarity with digital twin technologies and advanced simulation tools for production line optimization, virtual commissioning, and predictive analytics in manufacturing.
• Prior experience influencing product design for "build-to-cost" or "design-to-cost" targets from concept phase through production scale-up in a competitive environment.