Senior Manager Development Test
Costa Mesa · Costa Mesa, CA (OC-00) · USD 166,000-220,000 · 5+ years experience · Full-time · Posted Sep 25, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 5+ years experience
- Employment
- Full-time
- Location
- Costa Mesa · Costa Mesa, CA (OC-00)
- Salary
- USD 166,000-220,000 · Base salary
About the role
- Anduril Industries is seeking a highly motivated engineering leader in Hardware Test to join the Enterprise Test Capabilities team in Costa Mesa, CA.
- This role involves leading a centralized engineering team providing environmental, structural, wind tunnel, and other specialized test execution and infrastructure across the company's product portfolio.
- The Senior Manager Development Test will partner closely with program and product leadership to translate system-level validation needs into executable test strategies.
Responsibilities
- Lead the Enterprise Test Capabilities organization providing environmental, structural, wind tunnel, and other specialized test execution, instrumentation, data acquisition, and physical test infrastructure.
- Own and scale niche test capabilities ensuring the organization can execute complex campaigns with speed and rigor.
- Manage capital equipment, lab infrastructure, calibration processes, and shared test assets including planning, prioritization, procurement, utilization, maintenance, and long-range capability road mapping.
- Drive the expansion of internal test capabilities to reduce dependency on external facilities and enable faster design iteration.
- Partner with program and product leaders to translate system-level validation needs into executable test strategies, resource plans, instrumentation architectures, and risk-based test campaigns.
- Lead test architecture and readiness planning for complex hardware programs, including fixture strategy, data requirements, sensor selection, DAQ configuration, calibrated instrumentation, and post-test data review.
- Balance competing program priorities across a matrixed, high-growth environment by allocating scarce engineering talent, lab space, instrumentation, calibrated assets, and capital equipment.
- Build scalable processes for test intake, prioritization, planning, execution, data delivery, calibration control, and lessons learned.
- Establish operating mechanisms for resource tracking, lab capacity, equipment utilization, calibration status, schedule risk, and program support visibility.
- Develop technical leaders, engineers, and technicians through career ladders, leveling expectations, mentorship, hiring, organizational design, and performance management.
Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive experience in test engineering, test operations, or related hardware development disciplines within defense, aerospace, or high-reliability industries.
- 5+ years of direct leadership and people-management experience, including building teams, managing technical leads, and scaling organizations.
- Deep hands-on experience in one or more of: environmental testing (thermal, vibration, shock), structural loads and dynamics testing, wind tunnel testing, or other specialized physical test disciplines.
- Demonstrated ability to manage capital equipment portfolios, lab infrastructure, calibration programs, and multi-million-dollar test budgets.
- Experience developing and executing test strategies for complex hardware systems from development through qualification.
- Energy and passion to work at a hyper-growth startup that is aggressively disrupting the defense industry and a firm belief in Anduril’s mission.
- Deep empathy towards internal customers with strongly held opinions about how to deliver high-velocity testing services and a strong distaste for old aerospace methodologies.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate complex physical validation requirements into executable, high-fidelity test solutions.
- Superb communication and collaboration skills to manage competing divisional priorities and present technical risk and test readiness to executive leadership and military customers.
- Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance.
Preferred qualifications
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
- Experience standing up or significantly scaling shared services or centralized test organization.
- Background in instrumentation architecture, data acquisition systems, and sensor technologies.
- Familiarity with wind tunnel design, operation, and data analysis workflows.
- Experience with defense acquisition milestones, customer test demonstrations, and qualification review processes (MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-516, DO-160, or equivalent).
- Proficiency with test data analysis tools (Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW) and engineering applications (Nastran/Patran, HyperWorks).
- SCI eligibility preferred.
Benefits
- Highly competitive equity grants
- Comprehensive, competitive benefits package
Workplace
- Located in Costa Mesa, CA.
Skills
- Python
- MATLAB
- LabVIEW
- Nastran
- Patran
- HyperWorks
