Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Barracuda

Anduril, a leader in autonomous systems and weapons manufacturing, is building Arsenal-1, its first hyper-scale manufacturing facility, just south of Columbus, Ohio in Pickaway County. Arsenal-1 is redefining the scale and speed at which autonomous systems and weapons can be produced for the United States and its allies and partners. This is a monumental and essential step toward rebuilding America's defense industrial base, strengthening America's warfighting capabilities, and enhancing deterrence amid rising international threats.

The future of defense is being built right now, and Anduril's Barracuda product is at its leading edge. Barracuda is a family of air-breathing autonomous air vehicles (AAVs) purpose-built for hyper-scale production and mass employment. The Barracuda family consists of Barracuda-100, Barracuda-250, and Barracuda-500. Each increment offers increasing size, range, and payload capacity, but all Barracudas are compatible with a host of payloads and employment mechanisms, support a variety of different missions, and provide warfighters with an adaptable and upgradeable capability to counter evolving threats.

The Barracuda Launch Team (BLT) will set the standard for building the future at Arsenal-1, our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Ashville, OH. As Barracuda transitions from low-rate initial production at Anduril HQ to high-rate manufacturing at Arsenal-1, this team will own the technology transfer, stand up production lines, and sustain the floor operations that make that ramp possible. You will have the opportunity to train under our world-class manufacturing team at Anduril HQ in Costa Mesa, CA for up to 2 months before bringing that standard of excellence back to Ohio.

As a Senior Manufacturing Engineer, you will play a key role in scaling Barracuda production from early builds at Anduril HQ to full-rate output at Arsenal-1. Your core responsibility is owning the manufacturing process on the floor — ensuring production quality, resolving issues in real time, and driving the continuous improvement that high-rate manufacturing demands. This role requires deep hands-on experience with complex electromechanical integration and full ownership of the manufacturing process ecosystem: work instructions, MBOMs, RCCA, line optimization, takt time management, yield improvement, scaling operations, and MES management. The role spans the full manufacturing value chain — Design for Manufacturability, tooling and fixture design, process creation and optimization, vendor collaboration, quality planning, and production documentation — with the added responsibility of leading the technology transfer from HQ and standing up production capability at Arsenal-1.

** This role requires relocation to Costa Mesa, CA for an initial training program of up to 2 months. Housing, transportation, etc. will be provided during your stay.

• Lead the manufacturing of Barracuda products and sub-assemblies involving complex electromechanical integration from prototype through full-rate production, owning the build package end-to-end.
• Drive the technology transfer of production processes from Anduril HQ to Arsenal-1 — validating process readiness, tooling, quality systems, and training the floor team to execute at rate.
• Own and optimize the full manufacturing process ecosystem for your area: work instructions, MBOMs, process specs, RCCA, line layout, takt time targets, yield metrics, and MES configuration.
• Lead line optimization initiatives — analyze production flow, balance workstations, reduce cycle times, and implement process changes that increase capacity by 15–25%+.
• Root-cause and resolve complex floor issues using RCCA and 5-Why methodologies; lead failure analysis investigations and drive systemic corrective actions that prevent recurrence.
• Manage and improve yield performance through statistical process control, defect trend analysis, and targeted process improvements that reduce scrap and rework.
• Own MES management for your production area — configure workflows, ensure data integrity, drive real-time production visibility, and use MES data to inform process decisions.
• Partner with design engineers early in the development process to drive DFM and producibility into the design, and help move products from design to prototype to rate.
• Develop technical roadmaps for manufacturing technology advancement; independently evaluate and recommend capital equipment investments with ROI analysis.
• Champion Lean and Six Sigma methodologies across production areas; lead cross-functional kaizen events that deliver substantial cost savings (>$100K annually).
• Establish engineering standards and best practices that become benchmarks for the Barracuda production line and broader Arsenal-1 operations.
• Mentor and develop junior and mid-level manufacturing engineers; create and deliver technical training programs for engineering and production teams.
• Scale operations by developing production and test methodologies that enable ramp from low-rate to high-rate production of increasingly complex products.

• 7+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or complex hardware production environment.
• Degree in an engineering or technical field preferred, or equivalent hands-on manufacturing experience.
• Deep hands-on experience with complex electromechanical integration — mechanical assembly, harness/cable fabrication, avionics integration, PCBA, and functional test.
• Demonstrated ownership of manufacturing process systems: work instructions, MBOMs, RCCA, line optimization, takt time management, yield analysis, and production scaling.
• Experience with MES platforms — configuration, workflow management, and using MES data to drive process decisions.
• Proven track record of leading line optimization and process improvement initiatives with measurable capacity and quality gains.
• Experience managing capital projects and developing business cases for manufacturing investments.
• Manufacturing engineering fundamentals: engineering drawings and GD&T, DFM, process development, tooling and fixture design.
• Comfort with ambiguity, high-rate production environments, and delivering in a resource-constrained setting.
• A world-class quality and mission-assurance mindset, and flexibility for critical pushes.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

• High-rate manufacturing background in aerospace, automotive/EV, industrial, or medical device.
• Experience leading technology transfer of production lines between facilities.
• Experience building or transforming successful production operation organizations and leading large-scale change management initiatives.
• Exposure to aircraft, aerospace, and defense programs.
• Harness and PCBA fabrication experience, including prior work with or setup/modification/monitoring of SMT processes.
• Hands-on experience with R/C and/or autonomous flight vehicles, flight controllers, or related control systems.
• Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or higher); familiarity with J-STD-001, IPC-A-610, and IPC/WHMA-A-620.
• Current active U.S. Secret security clearance.

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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