Senior Data Protection Engineer

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

Anduril builds and operates the systems that protect our most sensitive work. We're a small, high-trust group with an outsized mandate — and this role is the first of its kind on the team, giving you the latitude to define data protection for Classified Systems from the ground up.

ABOUT THE JOB

As a Senior Data Protection Engineer on our Classified Systems team, you'll own how sensitive data is protected across some of the most secure environments in the country. This is an architecture-and-practice-building role: you'll dive deep into our environment, design the data protection architecture for Classified Systems, and work side by side with stakeholders and engineers to execute it — implementing the policies, controls, and processes that keep classified data handled correctly end to end.

This role is mission critical and broad in scope. You'll define how data protection and handling works as a practice — establishing the logical and physical controls, the processes, and the day-to-day standards that the rest of the organization relies on. Along the way you'll build the end-to-end solution, including the mitigations and automation that reduce risk and handle data spillages when they occur. If you want work that genuinely matters, gives you a blank canvas to architect from, and the mandate to see it through to execution, this is it.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Start by diving into our Classified Systems environment — mapping how sensitive data is created, stored, moved, and accessed today, and identifying where protection is needed most.
• Design the data protection architecture for Classified Systems — the controls, data flows, and safeguards that protect sensitive information end to end — and partner with stakeholders and engineers across our teams to execute it.
• Define the policies, processes, and standards for data protection and handling — both logical (access controls, classification, monitoring) and physical (storage, transport, and destruction of media) — and build the practice that operationalizes them.
• Deliver an end-to-end solution complete with mitigation — including the automation and incident response needed to handle data spillages and other data-protection events when they arise. Over time, you'll have the mandate to define how data protection at this scale should work, not just keep pace with it.

In this role, you will:

• Assess the Classified Systems environment and design a data protection architecture that secures sensitive data across its full lifecycle.
• Partner with stakeholders and engineers across our teams to execute the architecture and implement controls and policies — both logical (access, classification, monitoring) and physical (storage, transport, destruction of media).
• Define the processes and standards for data protection and handling and develop the practice that operationalizes them across the organization.
• Deliver an end-to-end solution complete with mitigation — including incident response and automation to handle data spillages and sensitive removal requests — while maintaining compliance obligations across security, legal, and customer-facing teams.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Active Top Secret/SCI security clearance (required; candidates must currently hold this clearance).
• 7+ years of experience spanning security engineering and security architecture, with a track record of both designing solutions and building them hands-on in production environments.
• Demonstrated experience both designing and implementing data protection or security architectures across diverse environments — endpoints, file shares, cloud storage, collaboration tools, and on-prem systems.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation (e.g., Python, PowerShell, Bash) to implement controls and operationalize data protection at scale.
• Deep understanding of data classification, handling, and lifecycle protection — including both logical and physical controls — in a classified or regulated environment.
• Proven ability to lead architecture and process work end to end in ambiguous, greenfield settings — setting technical direction, aligning stakeholders and engineers, and influencing without formal authority.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience supporting classified programs or working within a U.S. government / defense contractor security environment.
• Experience applying security and data governance frameworks (e.g., NIST 800-53/800-171, CMMC, zero-trust) to architecture and policy decisions.
• Experience designing and deploying data protection controls (e.g., DLP, encryption, access governance) and the detections that monitor them.
• Working knowledge of endpoint detection and response (EDR), DLP tooling, and cloud security posture.
• Experience standing up a new security or data protection practice and driving it across a cross-functional organization.
• Experience mentoring engineers and setting technical standards that outlast any single project.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., CISSP, CISSP-ISSAP, CCSP, Security+, or equivalent architecture/governance credentials).

Clearance & Logistics

Because this role operates on classified systems, the following conditions apply:

• On-site work is required; this role cannot be performed remotely. Ability to obtain additional accesses (e.g., polygraph) may be required.
• Must be a U.S. citizen and able to meet all program access and eligibility requirements.
• Occasional on-call availability may be required to support time-sensitive data protection events.

US Salary Range

$166,000—$220,000 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.