Industrial Strategy Lead - Production Strategy and Operations

About Anduril Production Strategy & Operations (PS&O)

• PS&O is the strategic operations arm of Anduril's Production organization. We exist at the intersection of corporate strategy and manufacturing execution — the team that takes senior leadership's strategic priorities and turns them into operational reality. Industrial Development is one of three PS&O pillars:
  • Industrial Development: Production M&A thesis, upstream funnel management, review of vertical integration, production centric diligence
  • Industrial Integration: Post-acquisition production integration deployment to suppliers
  • Special Projects: High-priority, cross-cutting production initiatives ("up and out" strategic projects and "down and in" site deployments)
• We are a small, high-leverage team building the playbook for scaling defense production. If you want to work on problems that matter — at the intersection of M&A, manufacturing, and national security — this is the team.

What You'll Do

• • You will be the production voice in Anduril's M&A process — the person who can look at an acquisition target and articulate whether it makes Anduril's production base stronger, weaker, or redundant. This is not a traditional CorpDev role. You won't be building DCFs or negotiating purchase agreements. You'll be developing the production thesis for why Anduril should (or shouldn't) acquire a company, running the production centric diligence that CorpDev doesn't have the domain expertise to execute, and ensuring that what we buy actually integrates into how we build things.
  • Production M&A Thesis Development: Scan the defense industrial base and work with Division leaders to evaluate acquisition targets that fill production capability gaps — vertical integration opportunities, critical supplier consolidation, or capacity expansion. Build business cases grounded in manufacturing economics (not just revenue multiples).
  • Diligence Leadership: Scope and lead production-focused diligence workstreams for active deals. Assess target manufacturing capabilities, production capacity, workforce quality, equipment condition, quality systems maturity, and supply chain health. Deliver clear go/no-go recommendations to CorpDev and Production leadership.
  • Integration Handoff: Translate diligence findings into actionable integration plans. Coordinate with Anduril’s M&A integration team on Day 0/Day 1 activities while owning the production-specific integration risks (systems cutover, supplier transition, quality system harmonization).
  • CorpDev Partnership: Serve as the primary PS&O interface to CorpDev throughout the deal process. You complement their financial and legal diligence with operational and production assessment — you are the person who can tell CorpDev "yes, this factory can actually scale to 10x volume" or "no, their quality system is a $5M fix."
  • Team Leadership: Lead a 2-person sub-team (Analyst + Production Diligence Specialist). Set diligence priorities, review work products, and develop junior team members.

What We're Looking For

• • 4–6 years of experience in corporate development, M&A, or strategic transactions — ideally at a defense prime or industrials company (L3Harris, RTX, Northrop, GD, Textron, etc.) where you've seen acquisitions from the operating company side, not just the financial side.
  • Strong understanding of manufacturing operations and what makes a production facility valuable (or a liability). You don't need to be an engineer, but you need to know the right questions to ask on a plant tour.
  • Experience structuring and running diligence processes. You've built diligence plans, coordinated expert workstreams, and synthesized findings into decision-ready packages.
  • Ability to build a thesis from ambiguous inputs. Anduril's data environment is messy and the production landscape is evolving fast — you need to be comfortable with incomplete information and iterating as you learn.
  • Comfortable navigating cross-functional relationships — you'll work across CorpDev, supply chain, engineering, quality, and division production leadership.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills. You will present to VP/SVP-level production leadership regularly.

Ideal Backgrounds (in order of preference)

• • CorpDev at a defense prime or diversified industrial: You've run acquisitions from inside an operating company. You understand how deals fit into a broader production strategy, not just a financial portfolio. You've done plant visits, managed integration PMOs, or assessed manufacturing synergies. This is the sweet spot.
  • Defense-focused PE (mid-level): Associate or VP at a fund like Veritas Capital, Carlyle's A&D group, or similar. You've done operational diligence on defense/industrial targets and understand production risk assessment. Note: this background is strong but comp expectations may be challenging.
  • Management consulting with M&A/operations focus: Post-MBA or equivalent from a firm with strong industrial practice (McKinsey, Bain, A&M). You've done commercial or operational diligence on manufacturing companies and want to move to the operating side.

What This Role Is Not

• • This is not a financial modeling role. You won't be building LBO models or running accretion/dilution analysis — CorpDev handles that.
  • This is not a pure strategy role. You will be on-site at target facilities, in data rooms, and on the phone with target company operations leaders.
  • This is not a CorpDev role that happens to sit in Production. The skillset is deliberately different — production and manufacturing expertise is what differentiates us.

US Salary Range 183000 - 243000 USD