Anduril Jobs: Clearances, ITAR and Defense Tech Hiring
Anduril had 1,165 Secret-or-higher postings in ClearMatch's Oct 2026 scan. What its clearance lines mean, and how Palantir, SpaceX and Shield AI differ.
Yes. In ClearMatch's scan of 1,237 employers' career sites from Oct 7 to 21, 2026, Anduril ranked #8 for cleared hiring with 1,165 Secret-or-higher postings, just behind Amentum and ahead of L3Harris and Peraton. Secret is the tier those postings ask for most.
This is general, factual information about defense tech job postings. It is not legal, immigration, export-control, security, career or financial advice. Clearance eligibility is decided by the government and its adjudicators, export-control status by the regulations and the employer's compliance team, and every hiring decision by the company's recruiting and security office.
Is Anduril hiring, and what kinds of jobs does it have?
Yes, and well beyond software. Google's AI Overview for "anduril jobs" puts the count at over 2,500 open roles, citing Anduril's own careers pages, and groups the work into software and AI, hardware and aerospace, manufacturing and operations (production technicians, supply chain, quality), and program management and business development. Anduril runs its main careers site plus a separate early careers page for students and new grads.
What that overview leaves out is the part a cleared candidate needs: which roles ask for a clearance, at what tier, and whether you must hold it before you start. ClearMatch's count of 1,165 Secret-or-higher postings answers the first question for one two-week window. It comes from a different snapshot and method than any board total, so the two numbers can't tell you what share of current Anduril openings require a clearance. The live cleared subset is on ClearMatch's Anduril Industries company page.
Locations, from what we could verify:
- Southern California: Los Angeles Metro is Anduril's top region in ClearMatch's scanned postings, and the Software Engineer, Discovery role is posted in Costa Mesa.
- Washington, DC and Boston: the same Discovery posting lists both, and asks candidates to be based in or willing to relocate to the DC or Orange County metro areas.
- Ashville, Ohio: home of the Arsenal-1 plant (more below).
- Atlanta and Huntsville: named as hubs in Google's AI Overview.
Do you need a security clearance to work at Anduril?
Not for every role, and the posting tells you which kind you're looking at. Defense tech postings use three different clearance lines:
A real example: Anduril's Software Engineer, Discovery posting sits on the new Lattice for Cyber team, which builds services, data models and APIs for Anduril's offensive cyber products. It asks for 5+ years of production software experience, lists "US security clearance eligible" under required qualifications and "An active U.S. Security clearance" under preferred ones. You don't need to hold a clearance to apply. You do need to be someone the government could clear.
Aggregator listings sometimes attach their own clearance tag to a posting like this, and the tag doesn't always match the text. Read the clearance line on the employer's own page before deciding a job is out of reach.
The rules behind "eligible" are in 32 CFR Part 117, the NISPOM. Section 117.10 lets a contractor request eligibility only for its own employees or consultants, never to "establish a cache of cleared employees," and 117.10(f) allows the request before the start date once a written offer has been made and accepted. The government makes the eligibility call under SEAD 4. The full sponsorship mechanics are in our explainer on getting a cleared job without a clearance, and the levels in TS/SCI, decoded.
Which other defense tech startups and unicorns are hiring?
The labels get used loosely. Shield AI's posting calls it "a venture-backed defense-tech company," and Saronic is a younger maker of autonomous surface vessels. Palantir and SpaceX are far larger employers whose government work sits beside commercial lines: SpaceX's launch-software posting supports Starlink as "a worldwide fast, reliable Internet service," and Palantir's careers page files its cleared roles under a US Government category. All of them recruit the same engineers Anduril wants. The table quotes one posting per row, each read in October 2026; requirements change posting by posting.
Saronic's postings show what a vessel-focused startup hires beyond software. Its Mission Operations Mate posting describes medium unmanned surface vessels that carry "ISR, electronic warfare, and other mission payloads" without a crew on board, a Mission Operations Master posting seeks a captain for its mid-sized vessel, Marauder, and an Outfit Build Engineer integrates autonomous navigation and control systems into vessel designs. Its Security Liaison posting defines "U.S. Person" as U.S. citizens, green card holders and certain protected asylees and refugees under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
Other venture-backed names readers ask about, such as Skydio, Hadrian and Vannevar Labs, are left out of the table because we only quote language we could tie to a linked posting. The same reading rules apply to their careers pages.
How do Palantir and SpaceX jobs differ on clearance and citizenship?
Palantir's gate on government-facing roles is the clearance. Its Operations Analyst, US Government Security posting, listed on-site in Palo Alto with a second version in Washington, DC, requires "A US security clearance at the Secret designation or above." The same US Government section of Palantir's careers page lists Site Reliability Operations Analyst roles in New York and Washington. Not every Palantir posting sits on a government team, so check each one's requirements section.
SpaceX gates on export control first. The Launch Software posting says that "to conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State." That line has nothing to do with classified work.
Starshield adds a clearance gate, and its posting is internally inconsistent. Basic qualifications list an "Active Top Secret, Top Secret SCI, or DOE Level Q clearance." The additional requirements then say the role requires "successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment," that "the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire," and encourage you to start the process after accepting the offer. If you don't hold one, ask the recruiter or security office whether an active clearance is mandatory at application or at hire. Shield AI's "required at time of hire" leaves no such ambiguity.
A green card holder can therefore clear SpaceX's ITAR gate for a launch-software job and still be shut out of Starshield, because clearances are built around U.S. citizenship.
What does "U.S. person" or ITAR eligibility mean in a defense tech job posting?
It is an export-control status, not a clearance. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations limit who can see defense articles and technical data without State Department authorization. 22 CFR 120.62 defines a U.S. person as a lawful permanent resident under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20) or a "protected individual" under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), and excludes any foreign person as defined in 120.63. Postings translate that into plain terms: citizens and nationals, green card holders, refugees and asylees.
Many defense tech postings stack the two, as Shield AI's does. If a posting names only ITAR, a lawful permanent resident may qualify. If it names a clearance, active or eligible, U.S. citizenship comes into play. For what the investigations involve, see investigation tiers vs. clearance levels.
How do defense tech unicorns compare with the traditional primes for cleared jobs?
On cleared volume, Anduril sits inside the primes' band. The top 10 from ClearMatch's scan of 1,237 employers' ATS feeds, Oct 7 to 21, 2026, counting postings that require Secret or higher:
Anduril is the only top-10 employer whose top region is Los Angeles Metro, and Peraton the only one whose most common tier is TS/SCI. Across all 58,059 Secret-or-higher postings in the scan, 53.6% asked for Secret, 15.5% TS, 15.6% TS/SCI, 7.2% TS/SCI with CI poly and 8.0% TS/SCI with full-scope poly.
Pay is structured differently from posting to posting. Anduril's Discovery role lists $167,000 to $222,000 as "base salary only" and says "highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers." SpaceX's Starshield posting lists $125,000 to $150,000 at Level 1 and $145,000 to $175,000 at Level 2, possible long-term incentives in stock or cash, and a 10% differential, up to $20,000 a year, for those with an active clearance once briefed into a classified program. Compare base to base, then value equity on its own terms, including when and how it can be sold. For cleared pay more broadly, see what a security clearance is actually worth.
If you hire for a midsize contractor, this table is your competitive set: a Secret-cleared systems engineer in Huntsville or Colorado Springs sees an Anduril posting in the same search as your requisition. ClearMatch's employer side shows where those candidates sit.
Where are defense tech jobs located, and what skills do they want?
Southern California is the anchor. ClearMatch counted 2,150 cleared postings in Los Angeles Metro in its Oct 7 to 21, 2026 scan, and California had 5,602 cleared postings as of October 20, 2026; see California's line in the Cleared Jobs Index or browse California cleared jobs. SpaceX's Starshield role is in Hawthorne and Palantir's security role in Palo Alto.
Ohio is the newer story. JobsOhio says Anduril's Arsenal-1 project in Pickaway County is a 5-million-square-foot drone plant on 500 acres near Rickenbacker International Airport, expected to create 4,008 jobs by 2035, and that the first Ohio-built Fury came off the line 557 days after the project was announced. Browse Ohio cleared jobs. Washington, DC appears across the peer postings, and SpaceX's launch team works onsite at Starbase, Texas.
On skills, ClearMatch's Oct 7 to 21 scan of 1,237 employers' postings, not Anduril alone, put Software Engineer (1,374), Systems Engineer (1,336) and Program Manager (542) at the top of cleared titles. The most-requested skills were Python (10,970 postings), AWS (7,679), C++ (5,306), Kubernetes (3,831) and Docker (3,795). The defense tech postings line up: Anduril's Discovery role wants C, C++, Python, Go, Rust or TypeScript/React plus Linux and containerized deployment, and prefers prior delivery into air-gapped or otherwise constrained environments. Starshield asks for C, C++ or Rust and prefers Docker or Kubernetes in production, and the Launch Software role prefers Python, Go, Kafka, Terraform, React and PostgreSQL.
How do you read a defense tech job posting's clearance line before you apply?
Five checks, all on the employer's own posting:
- Find the exact clearance sentence and note whether it sits under required or preferred qualifications.
- Separate "active" from "eligible" or "ability to obtain," and read any additional-requirements block, which can soften or contradict the qualifications list (Starshield's does).
- Check for a polygraph. "CI poly" and "full-scope poly" add a separate step.
- Look for an ITAR or U.S.-person line, and treat it as separate from the clearance line.
- Check location and onsite expectations. Discovery lists up to 20% travel; SpaceX's launch role rules out remote and hybrid.
Ignore aggregator tags until they match the posting text. ClearMatch's Recruiting Agent reads the posting's clearance requirement itself rather than relying on a tag.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a security clearance to work at Anduril?
Not for every role. ClearMatch counted 1,165 Anduril postings requiring Secret or higher from Oct 7 to 21, 2026, but some engineering postings, such as Software Engineer, Discovery, require only that you be "US security clearance eligible," with an active clearance listed as preferred. That line doesn't promise sponsorship or its timing, so confirm with the recruiter whether and when processing would start.
Is Anduril a good company to work for?
It depends on what you want, and the postings give you the checkable parts. The Discovery role pairs a $167,000 to $222,000 base with equity in most full-time offers, ties the job to the DC or Orange County metros, and lists up to 20% travel. Day-to-day culture is something to ask the team about in interviews, since no posting can verify it.
How much do Anduril employees make?
Pay is set posting by posting. The Software Engineer, Discovery role, which asks for 5+ years of production software experience, lists $167,000 to $222,000 base, and the posting says equity grants are included in the majority of full-time offers. Read the range on the specific posting you're considering.
Can non-U.S. citizens work at Anduril or SpaceX?
SpaceX's launch-software posting requires ITAR U.S.-person status, which covers citizens, green card holders, refugees and asylees, or a State Department authorization. Cleared and clearance-eligible roles are a different matter: the NISPOM requires contractors to verify U.S. citizenship for clearance applicants and allows non-citizens only a rare Limited Access Authorization, never for Top Secret.
Does Palantir require a security clearance?
Some Palantir roles do. Its Operations Analyst, US Government Security posting requires "a US security clearance at the Secret designation or above." Not every Palantir role sits on a government team, so check each posting's requirements section.
How do you get hired at Anduril without a clearance?
Target postings that say "clearance eligible" or list a clearance only as preferred, and make sure you meet the posting's other requirements, such as years of experience and location. Anduril also runs an early careers page for students and new grads. If a posting requires an active clearance, it isn't written for you yet.
What this looks like inside ClearMatch
Anduril is one of the 1,237 employers whose career sites ClearMatch scanned from Oct 7 to 21, 2026, with 1,165 postings requiring Secret or higher in that window.
Browse the live list on the Anduril Industries page or all cleared jobs, and run a posting through the job fit check before you apply.
Sources: Anduril careers, Anduril: Software Engineer, Discovery, Palantir careers: open positions, Palantir: Operations Analyst, US Government Security, SpaceX: Full Stack Software Engineer, Launch Software, SpaceX: Software Engineer (Starshield), Shield AI: Assistant Product Owner, CCA Mission Autonomy, Saronic: Mission Operations Specialist (Program), Saronic: Security Liaison, 22 CFR 120.62, U.S. person (eCFR), 32 CFR Part 117, NISPOM (eCFR), 32 CFR 117.10 (Cornell LII), JobsOhio: Anduril in Ohio. Clearance and export-control policy is set by the government; confirm your own situation with your FSO, the hiring company's security office or the official sources above.