Systems Engineer, Space Special Programs
Anduril Industries
Chantilly, VA · $147k–$196k a year · Posted August 10, 2026
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Where Chantilly, VA ranks
Where Chantilly, VA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Mid-Atlantic$192k · of 37
- #1Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Southeast$192k · of 33
- #1Best cities for pay after cost of living in Virginia$192k · of 15
- #2Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the Mid-Atlantic78 / 100 · of 37
- #4Best cities for mid-career professionals66% · of 100
- #5Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living$198k · of 94
Rankings about engineering jobs
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- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $171,500 a year. Across 209 open systems engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $104,000 to $161,000 and the median is $122,500. That is 40% above the median, above the middle half of those listings.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer occupations, all other, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer occupations, all other: 31% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
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About the job
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
In the Space Special Programs team, we build spacecraft and space systems which serve a wide variety of functions in the space architecture. At a time when space superiority can no longer be taken for granted and with space systems proliferating at an incredible rate, the Space Special Programs team provides advanced, mission critical capabilities to our customer base to be able to more effectively operate and survive within this expanding environment with limited personnel. Working across product, engineering, sales, logistics, operations, and mission success, the Space Special Programs team develops, tests, deploys, and operates new, unique, space capabilities to drive mission success in challenging operational environments.
ABOUT THE JOB
We are looking for several System Engineers to join our rapidly growing team in Chantilly, VA. In this role, you will be responsible for assisting with the full life cycle of design, development, integration & test, and operations for spacecraft and associated systems including maintaining and managing requirements, risks, budgets, and trade studies; interfacing with the other spacecraft disciplines to assure the system is meeting requirements and goals; and generating documentation like test plans, test procedures, and design review presentation materials for interfacing with customers and internal stakeholders to communicate progress. The engineering team as a whole must span the full capabilities of the systems role in spacecraft product development with the expectation that over time you will gain experience in all of the facets of the role including requirements development, mission design, spacecraft and payload design, integration and test, and on-orbit operations.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Work with a cross-functional team to design market leading hardware products
Help reach product maturity through rapid prototyping, design verification, and qualification activities
Learn and Apply modern space-flight hardware design standards and guidelines to create high-reliability, highly manufacturable systems
Develop, track, and maintain system requirements and work with other disciplines to assure the overall system as well as subsystems are meeting, testing, and verifying compliance with the requirements
Define, track, and maintain program risks and risk burn-down plans
Define, track, and maintain system budgets
Participate with the rest of the team in following internal guidelines and best practices for space flight hardware design, test, manufacture, and operations
Participate in peer-level and cross-discipline design reviews and help develop customer-facing system design documentation and presentations
Help drive development, integration and test activities to meet schedule
Work in a fast-paced environment, having to juggle multiple concurrent projects and customers
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
B.S. in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, computer science or similar engineering or technical field
2-8 years of professional experience, in hardware-based product development
Basic understanding of design techniques to meet space flight mechanical, electrical, software, and manufacturing requirements
Ability to generate comprehensive block diagrams and decompose a system into its requirements
Familiarity with standard interfaces such as Ethernet, CAN, I2C, SPI, PCIe, MIPI CSI-2, etc
Familiarity with common MCU, CPU, FPGA devices and technologies
Familiarity with basic spacecraft design principles and subsystems
Ability to determine manage work assignments based on prioritized direction from management, near-term goals, and day-to-day levels of progress
Familiarity with managing budgets (mass, power, error, link, etc) and creating models (power, data usage, propellant, etc)
Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively with others
Ability to work within our company and team culture and take ownership of the tasks assigned to you
Willing to listen and learn from experts but still speak up when you have ideas
Must be a U.S. Citizen and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Top Secret security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Experience designing, integrating, and flying Cubesat spacecraft meant to operate in LEO through GEO environments is a significant plus
1+ years of experience working in a classified environment is a plus
US Salary Range $147,000 — $196,000 USD
The 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.