Field Product Quality Engineer - Altius

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Field Product Quality Engineering team operates at the intersection of flight operations and mission success for Anduril’s autonomous aerial systems. We ensure that every anomaly, failure, and performance trend is captured in real time and driven to root cause resolution—so that each flight makes the next one more reliable.

This is a field-forward role. You will be on-site at launch and recovery locations, working shoulder-to-shoulder with flight crews, systems engineers, and program leadership to close the loop between what happens in the air and what gets fixed on the ground.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Flight Operations Quality Data Collection

• Work under minimal supervision with responsibilities for test planning, execution, reporting, and evaluation of the aircraft system under test (software and/or hardware).
• Manage all field configuration changes—hardware, software, and as-shipped main box contents. Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Mission Performance, Design, Software, and Configuration Management to maintain clear as-built records in support of root cause corrective actions and customer complaints.
• Develop and maintain standardized field data collection protocols, checklists, and digital forms that ensure consistent, high-fidelity quality records across all flight events and operational sites.
• Perform real-time quality observation during launch sequences, in-flight operations, and post-flight recovery—identifying workmanship issues, procedural deviations, configuration discrepancies, and environmental factors that may affect flight performance or vehicle integrity.
• Establish, track, and analyze key quality metrics—first-flight success rate, recurring anomaly trends, pre-flight escape rate, and mean time between failures—to provide the product team with actionable reliability data.

Flight Failure Investigation & Corrective Action

• Own the end-to-end coordination of all flight failures—from initial data collection and evidence preservation through root cause analysis, corrective action implementation, and effectiveness verification. Initiate rapid “In the Field” 8D analysis to establish quick wins that enable return to flight.
• Lead cross-functional failure review boards with flight operations, systems engineering, manufacturing, and reliability engineering to determine root cause using structured methodologies (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone, Fault Tree Analysis).
• Coordinate rapid containment actions following flight anomalies, including fleet-wide inspections, hold/release decisions, and risk assessments to determine return-to-flight readiness.
• Monitor a flight failure tracking system with full traceability from symptom to root cause to corrective action closure; generate trend reports and lessons-learned summaries for program leadership.
• Interface with design engineering and upstream manufacturing/supplier quality to translate field failure findings into actionable design changes, drawing updates, supplier corrective actions (SCARs), and process improvements that prevent recurrence across the fleet.

Product Quality & Continuous Improvement

• Support Material Review Board (MRB) activities for field-discovered nonconformances, providing disposition recommendations informed by flight data and operational context.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of Anduril’s Quality Management System, including field quality procedures, acceptance criteria, and inspection work instructions for flight-ready hardware.
• Support product development and NPI quality planning by feeding field performance data into FMEA updates, qualification test plans, and design review inputs.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, Systems) or equivalent from a similar technical field.
• 5+ years of experience in quality engineering, product quality, or reliability engineering—preferably in aerospace, defense, or autonomous systems.
• Direct experience and a “TRUE PASSION” for failure investigation and root cause analysis using structured methodologies (8D, 5-Why, Fishbone, Fault Tree Analysis).
• Working knowledge of quality management frameworks: AS9100, ISO 9001, or equivalent defense/aerospace QMS standards.
• Experience with product quality data collection, analysis, and metrics in a manufacturing, test, or field environment.
• Familiarity with GD&T (ASME Y14.5), blueprint reading, and inspection of mechanical and electrical assemblies.
• Strong analytical skills with experience using data tools (Excel, JMP, Minitab, MATLAB, or similar) for statistical analysis and trend identification.
• Willingness to travel extensively (approximately 50%) to field sites, operate in austere environments, and support flight operations on flexible schedules including weekends.
• A strong ownership mindset with demonstrated ability to drive cross-functional projects from identification through verified closure.
• Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and hold a TS/SCI security clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Possess the acumen for working in an environment comprised of active military and retired military / veterans.
• Experience with autonomous aerial vehicles, UAS/drone operations, or flight test quality in field-deployed environments.
• Demonstrated ability to lead Kaizen events and drive root cause corrective action (RCCA) processes to closure.
• Experience with MIL standards commonly applied to aerial vehicle quality requirements.
• Hands-on experience with avionics, PCBA, harnessing, composites, propulsion systems, software systems, or flight control surfaces.
• Familiarity with xFMEA methodologies and their application to product and process reliability.
• Experience working embedded with flight operations, flight test, or field service teams.
• Working knowledge of configuration management tools such as Teamcenter, Jira, or Foundry.
• Prior experience with government contracts and DCMA quality surveillance requirements.
• Master’s degree in a technical field.