Special Projects Manager
Irvine · Irvine, CA (OC-62) · Seattle, WA (SEA-01) · Washington, DC (DC-01) · USD 146,000-201,000 · 4+ years experience · Full-time · Posted Oct 2, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 4+ years experience
- Employment
- Full-time
- Location
- Irvine · Irvine, CA (OC-62) · Seattle, WA (SEA-01) · Washington, DC (DC-01)
- Salary
- USD 146,000-201,000 · Base salary
About the role
- As a member of the Special Projects team within Air Defense’s Mission Operations organization, you will be an innovative and independent problem-solver at the forefront of some of our most critical initiatives.
- You will be rapidly inserted into fresh, dynamic, and at times chaotic situations on a weekly basis and will wear many hats.
- You will also be the face of Anduril to many of our end-users and our customers, capable of articulating the capabilities and limitations of Anduril’s products at both an executive and a layman’s level.
Responsibilities
- Product Development - lead teams building early-stage products, and mature those teams to scale products.
- Work across the product, engineering, operations, logistics, and test teams to spearhead early-stage product development and maturation initiatives.
- Program Management - partner with capture, growth, and engineering leads to shepherd emerging proposals into successful programs for the business line’s most strategic priorities.
- Forecast resources, liaise with subject matters experts on engineering capacity, and exercise both strategic and tactical decision-making to ensure that our newest programs are set up for success across the dimensions of cost, schedule, and performance.
- Support Global Growth Initiatives - act as a trusted consultant and supporting function on the Air Defense Business Line’s products for international development opportunities and for strategic international engagements.
- 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 & foreign government officials.
- Flex Capacity - own end-to-end unforecasted cross-functional leadership needs as an elite generalist.
Requirements
- First Principles Thinker: break down complex problems into fundamental components and build solutions from known truths.
- Build with longevity in mind: build resilient and scalable teams and systems.
- Allergic to ambiguity: proven track-record of making sound decisions under uncertainty and with limited information.
- Master Communicator: fluent in fundamental principles of persuasion with elite writing, speaking, and narrative-crafting skills.
- Analytical Rigor and Versatility: dialectical thinker able to properly interpret contradictory information and update views with new information.
- Demonstrated Humility: willingness to shoulder tasks, get hands dirty, and champion the successes of the engineers led.
- Bachelor’s Degree
- 4+ years as a cross-functional leader in hardware and/or software organizations
- Demonstrated success delivering technology to large commercial institutions or government organizations
- Proven experience leading tech-enabled teams of peers across specializations
Preferred qualifications
- Demonstrated success working in at least two discrete industries
- Exposure to robot autonomy, machine learning, sensor fusion, data analytics
- Experience in rapid prototype development and fielding
- Advanced Degree
- Demonstrated interest in national security issues and defense technologies
Benefits
- Highly competitive equity grants included in the majority of full time offers
- Top-tier benefits for full-time employees supporting health, recovery, and whatever comes next
Workplace
- Willing to travel up to 50% of the time
Skills
- Machine Learning
- Sensor Fusion
- Data Analytics
- Robot Autonomy
