Senior Software Engineer, Simulation Platform

Company: Anduril Industries
Location: Costa Mesa
Posted on: April 1, 2026

Job Description:

ABOUT THE TEAM The Simulation Platform team owns the core architecture and infrastructure of Anduril's high-fidelity, multi-domain military mission simulator. It models hundreds of entitiesaircraft, ships, submarines, satellites, ground vehiclesmoving, sensing, communicating, and engaging across realistic physical environments. The simulator powers training, mission planning, autonomy development, and hardware-in-the-loop testing across Anduril's product portfolio. It connects to live systems, integrates with Anduril's Lattice platform, and runs inside a GUI for interactive scenario authoring. Mission Sim is a large, mature C++20 codebase with an Entity-Component-System architecture, a stable C ABI plugin system, embedded scripting, and a variety of physics-based models. Keeping this system fast, correct, extensible, and pleasant to develop against at scale, with a growing team of model developers is our job. ABOUT THE ROLE Platform work is leverage. Every API you design, every millisecond you shave off the frame loop, every rough edge you smooth in the developer experience — it multiplies across every model, every scenario, and every engineer which builds atop Anduril’s mission simulator. You'll work on a genuinely complex system (real-time, multi-domain, deterministic, plugin-extensible) where architectural decisions have concrete, measurable consequences and correctness matters. The simulator is how Anduril tests autonomy before it touches hardware, how operators train on mission scenarios, and how engineers validate that sensors and platforms behave as expected. This platform is what makes that possible at scale. This role is open to senior engineers and strong mid-career engineers who are ready to own significant pieces of a complex system. If you've spent your career building applications and want to shift toward framework and infrastructure work, this role is for you! WHAT YOU'LL DO Performance and scale — keep the simulation loop fast enough for real-time and faster-than-real-time execution with hundreds of concurrent entities; reasoning about memory layout, cache behavior, and contention as entity counts grow Custom Entity-Component-System architecture that underpins the entire simulator: entity lifecycle, component storage, system registration, and the update loop Plugin and SDK development: maintain a versioned C ABI, enabling external teams to extend the simulator Integration architecture: gRPC services, DIS protocol interoperability, networking messaging, and file recording for playback Support domain experts in integrating new and enhancing existing capability models REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS 3 years of professional experience with C++20 and strong C++ skills; you should be comfortable with templates, move semantics, smart pointers, and the kinds of design decisions that show up in framework code Experience designing internal APIs and frameworks that other engineers build on — you care about backwards-compatibility, ergonomics, not just correctness Solid understanding of systems programming fundamentals: memory management, shared libraries, ABI stability, linking, and platform-level concerns Comfort with linear algebra and applied math Familiarity with Linux based C++ development toolchains Ability to reason about performance-sensitive codecache behavior, memory layout, algorithmic complexity Clear technical communication and ability to work in a large, shared codebase with architectural decision making that impacts a growing team Eligibility to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Government Secret security clearance PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS 5 years of professional experience with C++20 Experience with military simulation, defense modeling & simulation (M&S), or related domains Experience with Entity-Component-System architectures or game engine design patterns Familiarity with gRPC, DIS (IEEE 1278.1) distributed simulation standard Experience with Python/C++ interop (pybind11, embedded interpreters) Familiarity with behavior trees or autonomous agent architectures Exposure to Nix for reproducible builds Experience with numerical simulation, physics modeling, or scientific computing US Salary Range $191,000 - $253,000 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: Healthcare Benefits US Roles: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans at little to no cost to you. UK & AUS Roles: We cover full cost of medical insurance premiums for you and your dependents. IE Roles: We offer an annual contribution toward your private health insurance for you and your dependents. Additional Benefits Income Protection : Anduril covers life and disability insurance for all employees. Generous time off : Highly competitive PTO plans with a holiday hiatus in December. Caregiver & Wellness Leave is available to care for family members, bond with a new baby, or address your own medical needs. Family Planning & Parenting Support: Coverage for fertility treatments (e.g., IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carriers, along with resources to support you and your partner from planning to parenting. Mental Health Resources: Access free mental health resources 24/7, including therapy and life coaching. Additional work-life services, such as legal and financial support, are also available. Professional Development: Annual reimbursement for professional development Commuter Benefits: Company-funded commuter benefits based on your region. Relocation Assistance: Available depending on role eligibility. Retirement Savings Plan US Roles: Traditional 401(k), Roth, and after-tax (mega backdoor Roth) options. UK & IE Roles: Pension plan with employer match. AUS Roles: Superannuation plan. The recruiter assigned to this role can share more information about the specific compensation and benefit details associated with this role during the hiring process. 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/ .

Keywords: Anduril Industries, Redlands , Senior Software Engineer, Simulation Platform, Engineering , Costa Mesa, California