Senior Program Director, Maneuver Dominance

ABOUT THE TEAM:

The Maneuver Dominance team at Anduril develops operationally relevant, multi-asset autonomy. We are focused on making large groups of autonomous systems work effectively together. We leverage existing Anduril drone platforms like Ghost or Altius, in addition to bringing 3rd party platforms into Anduril’s Lattice ecosystem. We develop perception and autonomy algorithms and build AAVs (autonomous air vehicles) to solve some of the hardest problems facing our customers. 

ABOUT THE JOB:

In your role as Program Manager, Director within Maneuver Dominance, you will lead a high-stakes, high-reward portfolio of programs. You will influence the shaping and development of cutting-edge technologies that enhance operational capabilities for end-users, in conjunction with internal teams and key external partners. You will ensure that cost, schedule, and risks across your programs are optimally managed and mitigated. You will both lead and execute. Ultimately, you will be responsible for building and maintaining a cohesive portfolio of programs that work in tandem with each other to reach portfolio-level goals. 

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead, manage, and execute large, technical programs, from early stage design, to technology development, to system integration, to testing, to deployment.
• Ensure crisp comms and reporting at all levels: you will communicate to the Senior Leadership Team, to your program teams (both PMs and engineers), and to functional teams across Anduril.
• Partner with engineering leaders to drive successful program execution and team velocity.
• Forge and manage both customer relationships and partner relationships.
• Identify, resolve, escalate key cross team dependencies.
• Understand technical implementation at the architectural level and propose technical alternatives when necessary.
• Work hand-in-hand with the Chief Engineer and Program Managers to ensure success across the portfolio.
• Exercise meticulous, swift follow-through on all asks and deliverables.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or applicable discipline specific to the needs of the MD Team
• 10+ years experience, including roles such as Program Director, Technical Program Manager, Senior Program Manager, or Technical Product Manager in an autonomous systems, robotics, or software development environment.
• Ability to understand the mission, focus on the mission systems, and how both connect to hardware. The Program Manager, Director should have the skillset to dive into any critical aspect of the mission system or program management team to lead, execute, and deliver.  
• Ability to execute in:
  • 1) Resource management (headcount, budget, and more)
  • 2) Planning (ability to forecast and understand detailed schedules, deliver high level schedules to leadership, and more)
  • 3) Building efficient and performant technologies that contribute to MD’s core mission and bottom line 
• An aptitude and appetite to thrive in organizations with: nascent structure, high-ownership culture, and a “whatever it takes” environment. 
• Ability to work closely with and influence external groups such as vendors, partners, and others.
• A strong affinity and talent for working with people, navigating complex ecosystems of people, and leading cross-functional teams.
• A strong familiarity with unmanned aircraft, autonomous systems, robotics, or related aerospace / defense technologies.
• Solid technical aptitude and an ability to understand technical designs, software development lifecycle, challenges and risks.
• Experience with development VTOL programs.
• High ownership, low ego.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong interpersonal skills and executive gravitas.
• Familiarity with import and export controls.
• Must be able to obtain and hold a U.S. TS/SCI security clearance.
• Must be willing to travel over 25%, with some international.
• Must be willing to relocate to or based near Costa Mesa, CA.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Proven experience delivering technology to government organizations or large commercial institutions.
• Significant experience leading high profile and high stakes programs.
• Experience with Defense Acquisition Processes, including System Requirements Reviews, Preliminary / Critical Design Reviews, Production Readiness Reviews, etc.
• Experience in building programs for software and hardware deliverables from the ground-up.