Senior Software Engineer, Vehicle Management Systems

Anduril Industries
Costa Mesa, CA

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for experienced software engineers who design real-time supervisory systems for autonomous vehicles, with a focus on maritime domain and embedded software.

Best fit for

  • Experienced software engineers with real-time embedded systems expertise for autonomous vehicles
    — “real-time embedded software for vehicle platforms”
  • Candidates with a background in fault detection and recovery logic for mission-critical systems
    — “Develop fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) logic”
  • Individuals who have worked on integration labs and managed subsystem coordination
    — “Experience setting up an integration lab”

Things to consider

  • Must be prepared to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance
    — “Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance”
  • Up to 25% travel required for testing at remote locations
    — “Travel up to 25% to test sites”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with multi-day autonomous mission planning and fault response systems
    — “the VMS is the only thing deciding whether a degraded vehicle presses on, aborts, or surfaces”
  • Demonstrate a track record of designing state machines for operational mode transitions
    — “Design vehicle state machines and operational mode transitions”
  • Showcase work with safety-critical systems in your interview responses
    — “working knowledge of safety-critical software design patterns”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

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

What success looks like

  • Designed and implemented VMS architecture
  • Developed FDIR logic
  • Defined VMS interfaces
  • Supported SITL/HITL testing
Typical background
7+ years of experience in vehicle management systems or supervisory control software

Skills & requirements

Required

Vehicle Management SystemsReal-time Embedded SoftwareFault Detection, Isolation, And Recovery (fdir)Operational Mode ManagementVehicle State MachinesRoute PlanningSystem IntegrationTesting

Preferred

U.S. Secret Security Clearance

Stack & domain

Vehicle Management SystemsFlight ManagementSupervisory Control SoftwareReal-time Embedded SoftwareFDIR DesignOperational Mode ManagementRoute PlanningCasualty MonitoringSitl/hitl TestingSubsystem IntegrationAt-sea TestingSecurity ClearanceMaritimeAutonomous Vehicles

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.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Anduril's Maritime Division is transforming American sea power to meet the defining national security challenges of our era and secure our future of maritime dominance.

We are scaling at an historic pace, anchored by Arsenal-2, our new software-defined shipyard being built in Baltimore County, Maryland. It's part of a new $6.6 billion investment in America's submarine industrial base.

Arsenal-2 is purpose-built to break long-standing industrial bottlenecks and scale production of critical components for the Navy's Virginia-class attack submarines to support fleet requirements. At the same time, it will build the industrial muscle to field our next-generation AUVs at scale.

We aren't waiting for the new shipyard to be completed. The work on this transformation starts right now, with development inside our new 160,000 square foot Proto-Factory in Orange County, California, where the team is already laying the foundation. As the prototyping hub for Arsenal-2, this facility gives us a multi-year head start, proving out the advanced manufacturing methods, digital workflows, and quality systems that will scale across our broader shipyard network.

In Anduril's Maritime Division, we are actively building America's next decisive advantage at sea—and this is the moment to join us.

ABOUT THE JOB

You will own the Vehicle Management System for a maritime autonomous vehicle. Reporting to the Cognitive Systems Lead, you will design the supervisory software that monitors vehicle health, manages operational modes, responds to faults, and coordinates across all subsystems.

The vehicle runs multi-day missions with no operator link, so the VMS is the only thing deciding whether a degraded vehicle presses on, aborts, or surfaces. Writing that logic means reasoning about failures nobody will be awake to catch.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Own VMS architecture: health monitoring, mode management, fault response

Design vehicle state machines and operational mode transitions

Develop fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) logic

Define VMS interfaces with GN&C, energy, communications, and mission systems

Manage route planning and casualty monitoring functions

Support SITL/HITL testing of VMS behaviors

Interface with all vehicle subsystem leads on integration

Support at-sea testing and validation

Travel up to 25% to test sites

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent

7+ years of experience in vehicle management systems, flight management, or supervisory control software

Experience with real-time embedded software for vehicle platforms

Familiarity with FDIR design and operational mode management

Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance

Experience setting up an integration lab

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience with AUV, UUV, or UAV management systems

Working knowledge of safety-critical software design patterns

Experience with C++ or Rust for embedded vehicle software

Experience in defense or maritime robotics

Experience doing a test and validation campaign

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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