Director of Quality

Anduril Industries
Costa Mesa, CA
On-site

Who this role is best for

Best suited to candidates with extensive experience in defense or aerospace quality management and strong leadership skills working in complex product development environments.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with experience in leading quality initiatives across defense and aerospace systems
    — “Quality management within the defense, aerospace or other end system hardware”
  • Individuals with a track record of building statistical analysis and quality engineering teams
    — “Build and lead a high-performing Product Quality Engineering team with expertise in statistical methods, DOE, MSA, and process capability”
  • Leaders who can drive cross-functional alignment and cultural transformation in large-scale environments
    — “Experience leading large-scale organizational change and driving cultural transformation”

Things to consider

  • Requires deep familiarity with DFMEA, PFMEA, and APQP methodologies
    — “Working knowledge of product development methodologies such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP)”
  • Must align with federal compliance and DCMA standards
    — “Provide strategic oversight and ensure product line governance in accordance with DCMA compliance and federal mandates”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in leading cross-team initiatives with executive sponsorship
    — “Lead cross-team initiatives requiring executive sponsorship and accountability”
  • Demonstrate ability to translate quality findings into design and process improvements
    — “Develop and execute mitigation strategies identified through root cause analysis, FMEA, and trend analysis”
  • Showcase leadership in implementing quality scorecards and KPIs for product validation
    — “Establish product validation and verification protocols (DV, PV, reliability testing)”
  • Emphasize experience in supplier quality engagement and quality agreements
    — “Partner with Supplier Quality to ensure early establishment of supplier quality engagement protocols”
  • Demonstrate capability in production readiness assessments and process capability validation
    — “Lead production readiness assessments, validating process capability, tooling, training, and quality systems”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Company

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Maximized efficiency and quality output
  • Established culture of statistical rigor
  • Improved product line governance
Typical background
Quality AssuranceEngineeringManufacturing

Skills & requirements

Required

Quality EngineeringProduct Quality AssuranceStatistical RigorContinuous ImprovementCross-functional CollaborationQuality Systems EngineeringDesign For QualityDfmeaPfmeaProduct Validation And Verification

Preferred

DCMA ComplianceFederal MandatesDesign For ManufacturingFailure Mode And Effects AnalysisRisk Management

Stack & domain

Product Quality EngineeringStatistical RigorContinuous ImprovementQuality Systems EngineeringKpisOkrsRisk ManagementQuality At The SourceRoot Cause AnalysisFMEATrend AnalysisDesign For QualityDFMFSS Risk ManagementProduct Validation And VerificationDesign Review GovernanceClosed-loop Corrective Action SystemsHyperscale CloudData CenterCritical InfrastructureCoachingResource AlignmentCross-functional RelationshipsEmbedding Quality And Compliance FluencyStrategic OversightTeam AlignmentExecution FidelityProblem SolvingLeadershipDefense TechnologyMilitary

About the role

Original posting from Anduril Industries via Greenhouse

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.

Director of Quality – Product Quality Engineering  

The Director of Quality serves as the executive amplifier and strategic integrator for the VP of Quality—ensuring that intent becomes action, and action scales across teams. This role drives Product Development excellence, builds world-class Product Quality Engineering capabilities, and establishes a culture of statistical rigor and continuous improvement.  

WHAT YOU’LL DO  

Support the VP of Quality in evolving priorities and organizational needs, adapting capacity and focus as required  

Enable Quality team leaders and division members to maximize efficiency and quality output through coaching and resource alignment  

Build internal delivery rhythms, KPIs, and OKRs that drive team alignment, execution fidelity, and risk management  

Lead cross-team initiatives requiring executive sponsorship and accountability, acting as go-to problem solver for ambiguous challenges  

Partner with Quality Systems Engineering to deploy and track KPIs through scorecards to inform decisions at QBR, MDPR 

Foster cross-functional relationships, embedding quality and compliance fluency throughout partner functions  

Provide strategic oversight and ensure product line governance in accordance with DCMA compliance and federal mandates  

Serve as the connective tissue across the organization—coordinating, communicating, and facilitating  

Own Product Quality Engineering strategy across all new product development by appropriately leveraging the following functions at the appropriate phase gates: Reliability, System Safety, Supplier Quality, and Quality Systems Engineering  

Own day‑to‑day factory quality engineering and sustainment; owns Productization/Recovery execution (productionization, stabilization, ramp support).  

Ensure efforts to embed Quality at the source are executed and implemented by operationalizing findings from Design for Quality, DFM, and FSS risk magement methodologies.  

Develop and execute mitigation strategies identified through root cause analysis, FMEA, and trend analysis; translating findings into design improvements and process enhancements. 

Drive DFMEA and PFMEA activities, coaching teams to proactively identify and mitigate risks before they materialize  

Establish product validation and verification protocols (DV, PV, reliability testing) aligned with industry best practices  

Drive design review governance, supporting critical phase-gate reviews to ensure quality criteria are satisfied at each milestone  

Partner with R&D, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain to create closed-loop corrective action systems that feed learnings into next-gen designs  

Build and lead a high-performing Product Quality Engineering team with expertise in statistical methods, DOE, MSA, and process capability  

Establish a center of excellence for statistical analysis, providing tools, templates, mentorship, and governance for data-driven decision-making  

Lead capability maturity assessments for product development processes, implementing improvement roadmaps  

Serve as Quality voice in PDP governance, aligning product strategy, customer expectations, regulatory requirements, and manufacturing capabilities  

Partner with Supplier Quality to ensure early establishment of supplier quality engagement protocols, co-developing quality agreements and performance metrics 

Drive Voice of the Customer integration into product requirements and quality standards  

Lead production readiness assessments, validating process capability, tooling, training, and quality systems  

Own product quality scorecards tracking first-pass yield, defect rates, warranty returns, and field reliability  

Facilitate post-launch reviews to capture lessons learned and feed insights into the Product Development playbook  

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS  

Bachelor's degree in engineering or equivalent technical experience with 5 – 10 years of industry experience that includes Quality management within the defense, aerospace or or other end system hardware.  

Proven experience leading Product Quality Engineering in complex product development environments  

Strong background in DFMEA, Control Plans, DOE, Six Sigma, DFSS, statistical methods, and reliability engineering  

Proven track record of developing and implementing global Quality strategies.  

Experience leading large-scale organizational change and driving cultural transformation.  

Deep knowledge of Quality Management Systems and standards such as ISO9001, AS9100, etc.  

Experience in interfacing with agencies and managing regulatory compliance.  

Experience in a variety of Quality domains, including design, production, supply chain, etc.  

Experience in large-scale risk assessment and management at a corporate level.  

Strong knowledge in one or more technical or production industry areas as it relates to design for Quality, root cause corrective action, measurement analysis, etc.  

Working knowledge of product development methodologies such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) elements such as Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T).  

Must be able to obtain and hold a U.S. security clearance  

US Salary Range$191,000—$253,000 USDThe 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.

Source: Anduril Industries careers (Greenhouse)

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