Staff Mechanical Product Engineer (Platform)

About the Role
The Staff Product Engineer serves as the primary design engineering presence on the production floor, bridging the gap between design intent and production execution. The role sits within Platform Engineering organisation and dispositions nonconformances and Material Review Board (MRB) actions, resolves design questions in real time, and closes the loop between production and design so that issues get root caused and fixed at the source. This is a senior individual contributor role requiring deep technical judgement, the ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced production environment, and the credibility to influence both design engineers and production teams. You will be expected to drive systemic improvements, cutting repeat nonconformances through changes to the design and documentation, as well as resolving individual issues.

Key Responsibilities

Production Floor Engineering Support

• Serve as the primary design engineering point of contact on the production floor for assigned programs and product lines
• Represent the design authority at Material Review Board (MRB), working with Quality and Manufacturing to minimise production hold time without compromising product safety and integrity
• Resolve production process-blockers, design ambiguities, and drawing interpretation issues in real time, exercising engineering judgement within defined authority boundaries
• Provide rapid-response engineering support and Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to Production, Quality, and Test teams for part and sub-assembly nonconformance resolution, use-as-is/rework/scrap decisions, and repair dispositions
• Identify and escalate systemic design issues to core Design Engineering teams with clear problem statements, data, and recommended corrective actions

Design Intent Translation & Multi-Site Support

• Support the translation of design intent into production-executable work across multiple product versions, configurations, and manufacturing sites
• Support the stand-up and ramp of production at new or expanding manufacturing sites, ensuring design engineering knowledge transfers effectively
• Raise and implement engineering changes to correct production issues that originate in the design, through the Anduril configuration management and change process
• Feed production observations, failure modes and DFM/DFA opportunities back into Platform Mechanical design work through structured feedback, prioritised using data

Design to Production Interface

• Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineering on work instruction (WI) development, tooling validation, and First Article Inspection (FAI) activities, communicating the design intent and acceptance criteria
• Own the resolution of EBOM discrepancies found in production, and give engineering input to Configuration Management and Manufacturing Engineering on PLM workflows, BOM reconciliation and work instruction tooling
• Identify patterns across nonconformances, test failures and build issues, and lead engineering root cause analysis and design corrective action implementation
• Collaborate on the improvement of key tool and functional interfaces (PLM workflows, digital work instructions, BOM reconciliation) that impact design-to-production efficiency
• Support the development of scalable frameworks for multi-site production: configuration management alignment, site-specific work instruction adaptation, and cross-site lesson-learned sharing
• Build repeatable playbooks for standing up production of new product variants, reducing ramp time and first-unit defects at each additional site

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Metrics

• Maintain strong working relationships with Quality, Supply Chain, Manufacturing Engineering, and Program Management to ensure aligned priorities and rapid issue resolution
• Track and report key metrics: disposition turnaround, repeat-discrepancy rate on owned hardware, nonconformances closed by design change, and how many nonconformance types are covered by repair and disposition guides
• Collate and drive corrective actions on design-originated production issues, providing data-backed prioritisation to core Design Engineering teams
• Participate in Production readiness reviews, design reviews (P&DFMEA, DFM/A/T) and engineering change assessments

Key Competencies & Attributes

• Engineering Judgement: Technical depth combined with production pragmatism — able to make sound engineering decisions under time pressure without over-engineering solutions
• Design Authority Integrity: You protect product safety and integrity under schedule pressure, understand the limits of your delegated authority and escalate when you should.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Credibility with both design engineers and production operators; able to speak both languages and bridge communication gaps
• Autonomy & Initiative: Comfort with ambiguity and competing priorities in a fast-moving production environment; able to self-direct and prioritise without constant direction
• Systems Thinking: Thinks beyond individual issue resolution to identify patterns, root causes, and scalable solutions that prevent recurrence across sites and variants
• Communication: Clear, concise technical communication — written dispositions, engineering reports, and presentations to leadership

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related engineering discipline
• 10+ years of engineering experience in a manufacturing or production environment, with at least 4 years in defense, aerospace or automotive
• Mechanical design and analysis capability to justify use-as-is and repair dispositions (hand calculations, tolerance analysis, FEA)
• Demonstrated experience working on or directly supporting a production floor in a hands-on engineering capacity
• Strong understanding of Material Review Board (MRB) processes, nonconformance management, and engineering disposition (use-as-is, rework, scrap, return to vendor)
• Experience with ISO 9001 quality management systems and associated production quality processes
• Ability to interpret engineering GD&T drawings, specifications and to explain design intent to production personnel
• Experience supporting multi-site manufacturing operations or production transfers between facilities
• Working knowledge of configuration management, engineering change order (ECO) processes, and product lifecycle management (PLM) tools
• Ability to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the defence, maritime, automotive or aerospace industries
• Previous experience as a Product, Sustaining, Liaison or Production Support Engineer with delegated design or disposition authority
• Experience with NX, FEMAP and Teamcenter, or similar CAD, FEA and PLM systems
• Experience with the design, analysis, testing, implementation and support of mechanical parts and assemblies
• Experience with welding, machining, sheet metal, injection moulding, composites and/or additive manufacturing
• Experience with engineering drawings, GD&T (AS 1100, ASME Y14.5) and tolerance stack-up analysis
• Experience in the maritime domain (sealing, pressure vessels, corrosion and material compatibility, pressure testing)
• Experience delivering under Australian Defence contracts, including working with Defence quality assurance, acceptance and seaworthiness representatives
• Experience with First Article Inspection and production readiness reviews
• Experience developing engineering disposition guides or similar documentation that lets production resolve issues without engineering
• Experience supporting multi-site production or production transfers, including international sites
• Experience with Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and continuous improvement methods (e.g. 8D, 5 Whys, Red X. Lean, Six Sigma)
• Track record of reducing repeat nonconformances or disposition cycle time through design or documentation changes