Special Projects Senior Manager, Air Defense

Company: Anduril Industries
Location: Irvine
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

ABOUT THE TEAM The Air Defense team builds counter-UAS systems that are redefining modern air superiority. At a time when asymmetric threats challenge traditional military capabilities, the Air Defense team delivers mission-critical solutions to warfighters worldwide. 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 globally. ABOUT THE JOB Air Defense is a high-octane, rapidly scaling business line that develops, integrates, and fields an expanding mix of mature and novel capabilities to detect and defeat UAS threats. As our business line continues to scale, our newest emerging initiatives require focused direction and ownership to rapidly mature in support of Air Defense's operational, technical, and financial objectives. These special projects are critical to our organization's continued growth: they can convert into a new product, a new team, or a new program. We are looking for Special Projects Senior Managers to lead operations within the Fixed Site and Maneuver Capability Delivery Teams (CDT). The CDTs works across the entire capability lifecycle—from early R&D through contract capture, fielding, and sustainment. You will wear many hats as both a strategic thinker and tactical executor, and will require superb intellect and judgement to navigate a constantly-changing landscape of product development, performance, and growth. Your work will fundamentally shape the way the Business Line designs, tests, and fields capability offerings. We move fast at Anduril and give tremendous freedom and autonomy to our new hires to assume responsibility and exercise prudent interdisciplinary judgment. You should expect to be running at least two cross-functional projects independently within 60 days of hiring. When you join our team, you're signing up to immediately make an impact in our organization and with our customers globally. WHAT YOU'LL DO Capability & Product Development You will lead cross-functional teams across the Air Defense business line and wider Anduril organization to build and scale early-stage products into mature, full-rate production products. You will spearhead our team’s Hardware Operations across the product lifecycle, implementing scalable, mature processes and systems to increase the velocity of our developing products and the maturity of our saleable products. You will develop deep expertise in the capabilities and limitations of Anduril's CUAS Family of Systems, including emerging technologies on the leading edge of development, and work with engineers to align evolving product direction with mission and customer requirements. Internal Operations You will be the operational backbone of the Capability Teams. You’ll translate strategic objectives into executable plans, and will integrate directly with our functional stakeholders in Engineering, Product, Operations, and Development to orchestrate successful outcomes. You will lead financial planning, budgeting, labor, and headcount spend across all of our internal Research and Development initiatives. You will interface directly with our ERP systems, designing extensible tools to accelerate our operational scale and team capacity. Global Growth & Strategic Initiatives You will be a trusted product consultant for the Air Defense Business Line's international growth opportunities and strategic engagements. You will communicate the nuances of engineering and production roadmaps for Air Defense products, consult on product-market fit for international growth leads, and participate as the business-line representative in high-visibility engagements with senior domestic and foreign government officials. You will develop deep mission expertise—understanding the nature of threats, operational constraints, rules of engagement, and customer requirements—and translate this understanding into product strategy and business development priorities. Lead Flagship Business Line Initiatives As Anduril rapidly scales, we are often presented with unexpected opportunities that require a nimble and autonomous leader to own end-to-end. You will be a full-field player for the business line and will demonstrate extreme professional versatility as an elite generalist, filling in where the need is greatest. You will build teams and processes with longevity in mind—creating systems that are resilient and scalable beyond your personal involvement—and you'll be unafraid to transition successful initiatives to others as new priorities emerge. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR This role is not for everyone. You will live on a constant rollercoaster of “it’s so over / we’re so back,” and you need to be the force that steadies the ship in large swells. We are far more interested in what you have done than where you are coming from, and have distilled some of the attributes that we are looking for below: First-Principles Thinker: You break down complex problems into their most fundamental components and build solutions from what is known to be true and makes sense in the current context, rather than how it has been done in the past. You always question the status quo. Builds with Longevity in Mind - You build teams and systems that are resilient and scalable beyond your personal involvement. You’re unafraid to leave something you’ve built, even when it’s quickly succeeding. Conquers Ambiguity - You use questions as tools and have a proven track-record of making sound decisions under uncertainty and with limited information. Master Communicator - You are fluent in the fundamental principles of persuasion and have elite writing, speaking, and narrative-crafting skills. Analytical Rigor and Versatility - You’re a dialectical thinker able to properly interpret contradictory information. You have an extensive analytical toolkit and have the intellectual awareness to update your views as you receive new information. Demonstrated Humility - You’re not above shouldering more than your share of the task, getting your hands dirty, and you champion the successes of the teams you lead. No job is too small for you. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor's Degree with 6 years of work experience in problem-solving, cross-functional leadership roles Proven experience operating in at least two discrete industries or functional domains, preferably in Business Operations, Consulting, or HW Operations roles Demonstrated success delivering hardware to large commercial institutions or government organizations, ideally in a hardware operations or manufacturing operations role Experience with ERP tools like Oracle, NetSuite, and management tools like Jira, Airtable, or Microsoft Project Strong technical aptitude with the ability to engage credibly with engineers, operators, and executives on complex system capabilities Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret Security Clearance Willing to travel up to 50% of the time to support product testing, fielding, demonstrations, and customer engagements PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 4 years of HW Product Management experience MBA Experience with ontology and data visualization-based development tools like Palantir Foundry, Databricks, Snowflake, or Power BI *Position is full-time from Irvine, CA but requires regular travel to test sites, deployment locations, and customer facilities domestically and internationally. 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: Healthcare Benefits US Roles: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans at little to no cost to you. UK & AUS Roles: We cover full cost of medical insurance premiums for you and your dependents. IE Roles: We offer an annual contribution toward your private health insurance for you and your dependents. Additional Benefits Income Protection : Anduril covers life and disability insurance for all employees. Generous time off : Highly competitive PTO plans with a holiday hiatus in December. Caregiver & Wellness Leave is available to care for family members, bond with a new baby, or address your own medical needs. Family Planning & Parenting Support: Coverage for fertility treatments (e.g., IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carriers, along with resources to support you and your partner from planning to parenting. Mental Health Resources: Access free mental health resources 24/7, including therapy and life coaching. Additional work-life services, such as legal and financial support, are also available. Professional Development: Annual reimbursement for professional development Commuter Benefits: Company-funded commuter benefits based on your region. Relocation Assistance: Available depending on role eligibility. Retirement Savings Plan US Roles: Traditional 401(k), Roth, and after-tax (mega backdoor Roth) options. UK & IE Roles: Pension plan with employer match. AUS Roles: Superannuation plan. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process. Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information. To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind: No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates. Please always verify communications: Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address. Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to contact@anduril.com . Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links. What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to contact@anduril.com . Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts. Data Privacy To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/ .

Keywords: Anduril Industries, Inglewood , Special Projects Senior Manager, Air Defense, IT / Software / Systems , Irvine, California