Staff DFx Engineer, Mechanical & Fluid Systems

ABOUT THE JOB

Anduril's Air Dominance & Strike (AD&S) Manufacturing Engineering team is seeking a Staff DFx Engineer to serve as the technical authority on design for manufacturability, assembly, and cost across our mechanical, structural, thermal management, and fluid systems (fuel, hydraulics, pneumatics) subsystems. This role spans our full portfolio of autonomous aircraft, cruise missiles, and loitering munitions — ensuring that every design decision accounts for how hardware will be built, by whom, and at what cost.
You will bring deep specialty expertise in at least one — and ideally two — of the following domains: mechanical structures and assemblies, thermal/heat transfer systems, or fluid systems including fuel, hydraulic, and pneumatic architectures. Your primary focus areas are manufacturability, assembly, and cost — the three lenses that determine whether a design can be produced at rate, by a qualified supplier, at an affordable price point. You are not reviewing designs in the abstract; you are shaping them to be buildable.
A critical part of this role is working directly with subject matter expert (SME) manufacturing engineers and design engineers to evaluate producibility and drive design improvements. You will also play a key role in the selection and qualification of contract manufacturers — assessing supplier capabilities against DFx requirements and ensuring that external production partners can deliver to the quality, rate, and cost targets our programs demand. This is an inherently cross-functional role: you will work daily with supply chain, quality, operations, and program teams in addition to ME and DE.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own and drive DFx analysis across mechanical, structural, thermal, and fluid systems subsystems for AD&S programs, with a primary focus on manufacturability, assembly, and cost.
• Lead structured DFM/DFA/DFC reviews at key design milestones, applying rigorous scoring to identify producibility and cost risks and drive design changes before they reach production.
• Lead/facilitate DFMEAs with cross-functional teams. Use FMEA outputs to drive design changes, inspection strategies, and control plans.
• Work directly with SME manufacturing engineers and design engineers to evaluate designs, translate manufacturing constraints into actionable feedback, and negotiate design trades that balance performance, producibility, and cost.
• Assist in the selection and qualification of contract manufacturers for machined components, fabrications, composite structures, thermal management hardware, and fluid system assemblies — assessing supplier manufacturing capability, process maturity, and cost competitiveness against DFx requirements.
• Conduct supplier manufacturing assessments including facility reviews, process audits, and capability evaluations to determine readiness for production qualification.
• Develop and maintain should-cost models and cost-driver analyses for mechanical and fluid system assemblies, identifying design changes that reduce unit cost without compromising quality or performance.
• Develop and maintain DFx standards, guidelines, and scorecards specific to mechanical manufacturing processes including CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding, brazing, composite layup and bonding, tube bending and swaging, casting, forging, and mechanical assembly.
• Analyze designs across key lenses — manufacturability/assembly, cost structure, adherence to specification, process capability, and technology maturity — to produce quantified risk assessments that inform engineering and program decisions.
• Evaluate thermal management designs (heat exchangers, cold plates, thermal interface materials, cooling loops) for manufacturability and cost-effective production at rate.
• Assess fuel, hydraulic, and pneumatic system designs for producibility — including tube routing, fitting selection, seal and joint design, leak test strategies, and cleanliness requirements.
• Partner with supply chain to align DFx requirements with sourcing strategy, ensuring that designs are producible by the suppliers we intend to use.
• Collaborate with quality engineering to ensure DFx findings flow into inspection plans, acceptance criteria, and supplier quality requirements.
• Close the loop between production floor feedback, supplier performance data, and upstream design improvements.
• Build and evolve the DFx toolkit — templates, scoring rubrics, cost models, lessons-learned databases, and training materials — so that DFx knowledge scales across the organization.
• Mentor and develop junior and mid-level engineers on DFx principles, cost analysis techniques, and supplier assessment methods.
• Travel to production sites, contract manufacturers, and supplier facilities (~20%, depending on business needs).

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, producibility engineering, or DFx with a significant focus on mechanical systems, thermal management, or fluid systems — with deep specialty expertise in at least one of these domains.
• Strong technical depth in mechanical manufacturing processes: CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding (TIG, MIG, electron beam, friction stir), brazing, composite layup and cure, bonding, casting, forging, and complex mechanical assembly.
• Demonstrated experience leading DFM/DFA reviews and translating findings into measurable design improvements that reduce cost and improve producibility.
• Experience evaluating and qualifying contract manufacturers — including facility assessments, process capability reviews, and production readiness evaluations.
• Strong understanding of cost drivers in mechanical and fluid system production, with experience building or contributing to should-cost models.
• Ability to read and critically evaluate mechanical drawings, GD&T, 3D models, and assembly documentation for producibility and cost impact.
• Working knowledge of relevant standards and specifications for aerospace mechanical and fluid systems (AS9100, NAS, AN/MS fittings, SAE AS specifications for fluid components).
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally across design engineering, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, quality, and operations — and to influence decisions through technical credibility.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present DFx and cost findings to engineering leadership and drive alignment on design changes.
• Comfortable working across multiple programs simultaneously in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Personal experience in a machine shop, fabrication shop, or on a production floor working with mechanical hardware. Hands-on credibility matters.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in engineering or a related field.
• Deep specialty expertise in two or more of: mechanical structures, thermal/heat transfer systems, fuel systems, hydraulic systems.
• Experience in aerospace or defense mechanical production, particularly with qualified or flight-critical hardware.
• Familiarity with AS9100/AS9102 quality management systems and First Article Inspection processes.
• Experience with composite manufacturing (autoclave cure, out-of-autoclave, RTM) and associated DFM considerations.
• Proficiency in CAD software (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, or similar) sufficient to review designs independently.
• Background in Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical process control, or Six Sigma applied to mechanical manufacturing.
• Experience with value engineering or formal cost reduction programs in a production environment.
• Knowledge of fluid system cleanliness, proof/burst testing, and qualification requirements for aerospace applications.
• Currently possesses and is able to maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance with Full-Scope Polygraph.