Senior Operations Lead

andurilindustries

Chantilly, Virginia, United States; Herndon, Virginia, United States · Chantilly · United States

Posted Aug 11, 2026

Full-time
AFS : Space Engineering : Celestial Systems

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

In the Space Special Programs team, we build spacecraft and space systems which serve a wide variety of functions in the space architecture. At a time when space superiority can no longer be taken for granted and with space systems proliferating at an incredible rate, the Space Special Programs team provides advanced, mission critical capabilities to our customer base to be able to more effectively operate and survive within this expanding environment with limited personnel. Working across product, engineering, sales, logistics, operations, and mission success, the Space Special Programs team develops, tests, deploys, and operates new, unique, space capabilities to drive mission success in challenging operational environments.

ABOUT THE JOB

The Senior Operations Lead is a core member of the Space Special Programs Business Line leadership team, with a mandate to develop and scale the organization’s people and processes to maintain and grow our advantage as a technology-led, outcome-oriented systems integrator for the full spectrum of space missions.
In this role you will be responsible for all internal business operations. Your work will vary from quick-turn operational fire-fighting, to building and redesigning processes, to leading high-impact strategic projects. This role requires you to be a trusted partner to each part of the business, and to work with and support the General Manager to achieve our strategic objectives.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

Organizational planning and development. Partner with the General Manager and their leadership team to develop and execute strategy for organizational planning and development.
- Implement tools and processes for generating data that can drive decisions
- Define and track metrics for organizational health and performance
- Design and implement governance structures, accountability mechanisms, and continuous improvement processes
- Drive quarterly and annual planning cycles for Space Special Programs and prepare content for regular business reviews with the executive team and cross-functional partners

Cross-functional leadership. Coordinate action, align incentives, and drive accountability with supporting Divisions/Business Lines, Corporate/G&A/Functional orgs, and external Partners/Suppliers.
- Design and implement the Space Special Programs organizational API, a set of tools and processes that define the cross-functional operating model
- Partner with FP&A to track financial health against business line goals, take actions to maintain operating expenses within budget, and recommend strategies to achieve margin targets
- Partner with Corporate Technology to build the underlying data and system infrastructure for organizational operations and knowledge management
- Partner with Growth, Revenue Operations, and Production to monitor pipeline health, identify material changes to forecast, and ensure production schedules are aligned with customer demand
- Partner with HR and Talent Acquisition to build out and oversee headcount planning, hiring, staffing, onboarding, professional development, and performance management infrastructure and processes
- Partner with Growth, Communications, Design, and Marketing to ensure successful announcements (internal and external), customer events, trade shows, and new product launches

Project execution. Drive day-to-day operations and develop internal processes/frameworks for efficient execution across the business line.
- Build your own independent portfolio as one of Space Special Programs’ key leaders, deeply diving into a set of organizational priorities that you drive as your own.
- Bootstrap new capabilities and lead cross-functional projects, owning their end-to-end execution from initial discovery to successful resolution. Examples include pricing strategy, organizational design, competitor/market analysis, etc.
- Generate and collect data, conduct analysis, and make recommendations to inform strategic investment decisions (e.g., at-risk hardware buys and hiring, test range/development hardware allocation, real estate/facilities, classified infrastructure, M&A, etc.)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

8+ years of working experience in a consulting, operations, finance, technical program management, product management, or business operations role. Experience working with engineers and bringing hardware/software products to market strongly preferred.
Strong communication skills across a wide dynamic range, both written and verbal. Experience interfacing with company leadership and executives is a must, with a demonstrated ability to cultivate trust and facilitate meetings for and engage with executives. Demonstrated ability to translate and articulate thoughts clearly and simply across a wide range of roles (software engineers, finance partners, recruiters, cross functional leadership, and executives).
Strong emotional intelligence and ability to solve operational problems in a way that is both data-driven and people-centric.
High ownership with the horsepower to effectively manage multiple (3-5+) large projects and priorities in parallel, at a rapid pace, and report out on progress regularly.
Must be a U.S. Citizen and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
Proven ability to understand the pace and lifecycle of spacecraft technical development, challenges and risks; ability to work closely and effectively with engineering teams to help them most effectively meet their goals.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience working at a technology and/or high growth company.
Experience working in defense or aerospace.
Experience working effectively in a matrix organization structure.

US Salary Range

$146,000—$194,000 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.