Head of Operational Excellence, Mission Readiness

andurilindustries

Costa Mesa, California, United States · Costa Mesa · United States

Posted May 28, 2026

Full-time
Remote
Programs : Deployments

Job description

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The duty of this organization is to enable our Customers’ ongoing Mission Readiness. From the moment they say '“go” until the contract is fulfilled. We are only successful when the customer's mission is successful.

Mission Readiness is the post-production shared services organization for Anduril. This team supports the Business Lines and Divisions throughout the lifecycle of their product, from initial sustainment concept through delivery, installation, operation, repair and return. These service offerings also include providing technical publications, training, customer support, connectivity services and other value-added services. To the degree the Business elects, we accept the delegated responsibility for upfront and continued delivery of the committed service solutions. This team endeavors to provide the Business Lines, as our internal customers, shared mission services that are more efficient and cost effective than if they chose to provide them directly. By offering mission support capabilities and capacity that are not “core” to the Business, the Business can focus resources on addressing the next big need while we ensure existing commitments are met.

ABOUT THE JOB

We are looking for a Head of Operational Excellence (OpEx) to join our rapidly growing team in Costa Mesa, CA. In this role, you will be responsible for driving the systems, processes and projects that yield productivity and scale of the aftermarket service offerings.

You will run the Management Operating System (MOS) - ensuring visibility to success measures that lead the team to define, prioritize and execute improvement actions and initiatives. This will require business acumen and analytical thinking to determine the most impactful priorities, as well as excellent project and people management to keep initiatives on track.

You and your team will be lead representatives of Mission Readiness to the Business Line leadership and the primary touchpoint for functional integration with Finance, People (Talent Acquisition), Business Operations, and Quality. This will require the ability to influence others using both logic and force of will. You will also be asked to develop your own approach for balancing the requests brought by customers with internally derived initiatives.

You will manage the central core for process definition, process improvement, and the systems & tools to enable them, serving as a resource and coordination point for all of Mission Readiness and adjacent functions. In order to ensure effective application of resources, this role will also be central to business analysis and special projects for the organization.

If you like to think big picture but can manage to the details, this role could be for you. If you like to get involved in the action and connect the dots to make things happen, this role is definitely for you.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Lead a team of direct reports (both people managers and individual contributors) and indirect team members (including peers and other levels in other functions) to accomplish the objectives of Mission Readiness’ Operational Excellence
Organize and run the Management Operating System (MOS) of Mission Readiness, which monitors key performance indicators of the business, institutes the cadence of performance review and the actions that result from it. Engage with and deliver the Business Line perspective to cross-functional leadership each quarter.
Determine priorities for process definition/improvement and enabling systems/tools within Mission Readiness, then manage the planning, execution and results of the initiatives undertaken. Lead and/or oversee leadership of projects championed by Mission Readiness.
Manage the portfolio of projects and strategic initiatives for Mission Readiness, driving follow-through and measurable results.
Convene and conduct robust, hypothesis-driven business analyses that yield actionable insights and outcome-changing decisions. Become the trusted embedded research capability for the Mission Readiness organization.
Coordinate with Finance to understand and refine the economics of Mission Readiness services. Instigate and generate views of revenues and costs that enable Mission Readiness to increase impact for the businesses. Implement cost allocation mechanisms and manage adherence.
Coordinate with Talent Acquisition and People teams to ensure internal MOS is prioritizing recruiting efforts and onboarding for the fast-growing organization. Oversee programmatic labor charging compliance.
Lead the development of inputs to feed annual and periodic business forecasting activities for capacity, investment and cost. Tie the strategic direction of Mission Readiness to that of the Business Lines to enable a cohesive story that generates growth and efficiencies.
Serve as a key leadership team member in Mission Readiness, partnering with the VP and peers to coordinate cross-functional strategy, responsibilities and enable organizational success.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelors degree in an engineering or business discipline with technical emphasis
10+ years of professional experience in some combination of operations, process improvement, project management, business analysis, business systems, engineering and/or finance.
Minimum of two years of experience directly managing 5+ employees
Ability to travel up to 25% of the time
This position is based in Costa Mesa, CA and requires being onsite - remote work not considered
Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret or Top Secret security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Prior work in/with a sustainment or aftermarket solutions business (such as logistics, sustainment, repairs, spare parts, connectivity services or other related services)
Demonstrated experience maturing processes and/or operations from prototype/early stage through to repeatable volume or automation
Prior work in/with industry with complex, technical products, preferably durable assets with embedded software
Ability and willingness to dig in to systems and digital tools to inform and iterate process designs and direct improvements
Strong organizational and self management discipline; desire to keep things on track and organized
Ability and willingness to make tradeoffs for speed, impact and risk
Demonstrated team builder and developer of people
Six Sigma and/or Lean training and application

US Salary Range

$220,000—$293,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.
Please always verify communications:
- Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.
- Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to contact@anduril.com.
Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.
What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to contact@anduril.com. Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.