Mission Autonomy Lead - Thunder

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Mission Autonomy Lead - Thunder in USA

Anduril Industries
Full time
Email

USA
09/24/2026
Report

Costa Mesa, CA

Responsibilities

Own the autonomy software architecture covering planning, execution, perception, and mission debrief.
Design mission-planning systems and mission-execution software for autonomous aviation operations.
Develop perception systems that sense and interpret the vehicle’s environment.
Build mission-debrief capabilities for post-mission analysis and continuous improvement.
Build and maintain software development infrastructure, including simulation and SITL/HITL capabilities.
Define autonomy-stack interfaces with the vehicle management system using MOSA principles.
Manage autonomy deliverables across development phases, including SysML models and requirements traceability.
Provide technical mentorship to software and systems engineers.
Develop test and simulation fixtures for autonomy validation.
Represent the autonomy subsystem in technical and customer meetings and coordinate integration with Mission Systems and Vehicle Systems.
Travel up to 25% to test sites and customer locations.

Requirements

Bachelor's, master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent.
8+ years of experience in autonomous systems, robotics, or AI/ML.
Experience delivering software through full product development cycles.
Demonstrated experience with autonomous navigation, planning, or perception systems.
Experience with modeling, simulation, and SITL/HITL testing.
Experience developing safety-critical or high-assurance software.
Proficiency in C++ and/or Python for real-time and mission-critical software systems.
Experience with Linux-based embedded or real-time operating systems.
Experience with version control and CI/CD tooling such as Git, Jenkins, or GitLab CI.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance.
Preferred experience with autonomous aviation systems, including UAS, UAV, or manned-unmanned teaming.
Preferred knowledge of behavior trees, mission-planning frameworks, computer vision, EO/IR sensor processing, airborne perception, distributed architectures, edge computing, MOSA/WOSA, MBSE, and digital engineering.
Preferred familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, aviation simulation environments, real-time middleware, cross-compilation, NVIDIA Jetson, static analysis, formal verification, and MISRA C++ or DO-178C-adjacent practices.

Benefits

Full-time employees receive comprehensive competitive benefits available at little to no cost.
The role is based at the Costa Mesa, California office.
The position includes up to 25% travel to test sites and customer locations.
Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full-time offers.

Salary: $220k - $292k/yr

Anduril Industries

Anduril Industries builds advanced autonomous systems designed to enhance military awareness and security across land, sea, and air. Targeting defense agencies and allied military forces, it leverages its proprietary Lattice platform to drive innovation in military capabilities. What sets Anduril...

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