Senior Materials and Process Engineer, Rocket Motor Systems (Polymeric Ablatives)

<div class="content-intro"><p>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.</p></div><h3>About the Team</h3> <p>Anduril's Rocket Motor Systems (RMS) team is seeking an experienced, hands-on Materials and Process (M&P) Engineer to provide technical leadership across our rapidly expanding solid rocket motor portfolio. This role will serve as a subject matter expert for materials, processes, and specifications supporting the full spectrum of rocket motor systems including propellants, motor cases, thermal protection systems, nozzles, and energetic components.</p> <h3>About the Role</h3> <p>This foundational role will establish the M&P infrastructure that enables RMS to scale from prototype development to high-rate production. You'll lead the development, documentation, and standardization of material specifications, process specifications, acceptance test procedures, and design allowables across multiple concurrent programs—transforming tribal knowledge and informal work instructions into robust, configuration-controlled engineering documentation.<br>The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in aerospace materials with strong documentation skills and the ability to drive standardization across a fast-moving organization. If you thrive in environments where you can build engineering infrastructure from the ground up while also solving challenging technical problems, we want to hear from you.<br><br><strong>This role is based in Costa Mesa, CA with up to 50% travel to RMS sites in MS, NC, AL, etc.</strong></p> <p><strong>What You'll Do</strong></p> <ul> <li>Develop and maintain <strong>Material Specifications</strong> for raw materials, components, and assemblies containing polymeric constituents across all RMS systems including propellants, cases (metal and composite), ablatives, insulators, adhesives, coatings, and nozzle materials</li> <li>Create <strong>Process Specifications</strong> for manufacturing operations including propellant processing, ablative component manufacturing, insulation/liner bonding and surface preparation, heat treatment, coating application, and final assembly processes</li> <li>Develop <strong>Standard Acceptance Test Procedures</strong> and NDI technique sheets for incoming materials, in-process inspection, and finished hardware (FTIR, Raman, X-ray, CT scan, ultrasonic, radiography)</li> <li>Review and standardize existing work instructions into formal, configuration-controlled specifications with clearly defined process windows and acceptance criteria</li> <li>Serve as subject matter expert for polymeric materials selection, processing, and qualification across solid rocket motor systems including propellants, cases, thermal protection systems (elastomeric, rubber and composite insulation/liners), nozzles, igniters, and other energetic components</li> <li>Lead materials characterization programs including mechanical testing, thermal analysis, rheology, cure kinetics, and ablation performance evaluation; develop design allowables per industry standards (CMH-17, JANNAF)</li> <li>