Director of Advanced Capabilities
Andurilindustries · Costa Mesa, California, United States · Posted Jul 3, 2026
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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 Maritime delivers platforms, systems, and integrated effects in the maritime domain. Our autonomous vehicles (sub-surface and surface) are the cornerstone of these capabilities, and we continually strive to push the boundaries of the possible in terms of endurance, autonomy and mission capability. The Maritime team develops and maintains core products and payloads, and adapts and applies those products to serve a wide variety of defense, IC and commercial customers in US and international markets.
ABOUT THE JOB
We are looking for a Director of Advanced Capabilities to join our rapidly growing team in Costa Mesa, CA or Washington, D.C. In this role, you will serve as the critical bridge between cutting-edge engineering and real-world naval warfare. You will lead the team that defines how Anduril's autonomous maritime systems — operating collaboratively, across domains, and at scale — change the calculus of modern naval warfare.
The ideal candidate possesses a rare combination of military operational expertise, analytical rigor, and corporate strategic vision. You are as comfortable discussing high-fidelity mission modeling with software engineers as you are discussing operational concepts with senior military commanders.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Drive Warfighting Capability Analysis CONOP development: Lead warfighting capability analysis across the Maritime Division. Author the tactical "playbook"—defining Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) for manned and unmanned platforms, and employment strategies for how operators will utilize Anduril’s maritime products.
Bridge the Gap Between Tech Tactics: Distill complex operational research and threat analysis into clear, prioritized capability needs for engineering teams, ensuring product development solves real-world operational problems.
Conduct Future Threat Studies: Lead forward-looking studies to project operational challenges years into the future, identifying capability gaps and defining what new products Anduril must develop to help customers maintain overmatch.
Act as Chief Translator Briefer: Serve as the primary operational interlocutor for customers. Lead high-level briefings, mission modeling reviews, guide wargaming scenarios and Virtual Reality (VR) tactical demonstrations.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with the Head of Growth, maritime General Managers, and Maritime leadership to align business development strategies with technical roadmaps and operational problems.
Lead Scale a World-Class Team: Manage, mentor, and grow a global team of warfighting capability analysts. Develop modern analytical tools, modeling methodologies, and wargaming approaches that lead the operational analysis field and drive Anduril’s product development.
Define Integrated Effects: Lead cross-domain analysis spanning sub-surface, surface, air, and the broader joint kill web — defining how Anduril maritime systems contribute to integrated effects beyond any single domain.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Exceptional Leadership Gravitas: Proven ability to command a room, build trust, and communicate complex concepts to stakeholders ranging from software engineers to 4-star Admirals.
Strategic Analytical Experience: 10+ years of experience in defense strategy, operational planning, operational analysis, systems engineering or related technical fields.
Technical Literacy: Strong grasp of analysis, modeling and simulation (M S) tools, or operational research methodologies.
Defense Ecosystem Knowledge: Deep understanding of Joint and naval warfare, the maritime domain, and the defense acquisition lifecycle.
Deep analytical experience: Demonstrated experience building or leading a modeling, simulation, and wargaming capability — constructive simulation, operational analysis, and campaign/mission modeling — with the ability to defend methodology and assumptions to both engineering and senior operational audiences.
Autonomy : Deep understanding of autonomous and collaboratively autonomous systems, manned-unmanned teaming, and integrated cross-domain (joint) effects — with the ability to translate the operational advantages of scale, attritability, and software-defined autonomy into warfighting concepts.
Education: Degree or Post Grad…