Associate Director, Kitchen Operations - West Coast

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 JOB

The Associate Director, Kitchen Operations – West Coast will be a senior leader within the Global Food & Beverage team, responsible for operational leadership across a growing portfolio of corporate campuses, production facilities, and offices throughout the region. This role combines financial management, new campus development, construction partnership, vendor leadership, and team management. This role will lead existing food and beverage operations while owning the F&B development and effective readiness of new campuses and facilities coming online across the West Coast. This is a highly cross-functional role requiring strong business judgment, operational expertise, and the ability to move seamlessly between strategic planning and execution. Significant travel across the portfolio is expected. We are driven by our outcomes here at Anduril Industries. Do or do not, there is no try.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead food and beverage operations across a diverse West Coast portfolio, driving consistency in service, quality, safety, employee experience, and financial performance.

• Own F&B operational readiness for new campuses and facilities from planning and design through opening and stabilization.

• Partner closely with Construction, Real Estate, Workplace, Finance, and other cross-functional teams throughout the development process.

• Review and interpret architectural plans, elevations, equipment layouts, and construction documentation, with a working understanding of MEP infrastructure and its impact on F&B operations.

• Identify F&B infrastructure, operational, schedule, and cost risks early and drive solutions through project completion.

• Manage operating budgets, P&Ls, forecasts, financial analysis, and key cost drivers across assigned programs.

• Evaluate vendor performance, commercial terms, pricing, investments, and operating results to drive accountability and financial discipline.

• Lead strategic relationships with food service operators and other F&B partners, including performance management, contract execution, and operational improvements.

• Ensure strong food safety, sanitation, regulatory compliance, and risk management across the portfolio.

• Lead, coach, and develop F&B operations team members while building scalable processes and standards for a rapidly growing organization.

• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex operational, vendor, project, and employee experience issues.

• Establish repeatable standards and playbooks that improve the quality, efficiency, and speed of future campus openings.

• Travel regularly across West Coast locations and to other company sites as needed.

• REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 8+ years of progressive food and beverage, hospitality, corporate dining, culinary, or related operations experience.

• Experience leading complex, multi-site F&B programs within large corporate campuses, production environments, hospitality, or similarly operationally complex organizations.

• Strong financial acumen with experience managing P&Ls, budgets, forecasts, and vendor economics.

• Experience partnering with Construction, Real Estate, Facilities, or Development teams on new construction, renovations, expansions, or major facility projects.

• Ability to read and interpret architectural plans, elevations, equipment layouts, and construction documentation.

• Working knowledge of MEP systems and how infrastructure decisions affect food and beverage operations.

• Strong expertise in food safety, operational risk, and regulatory compliance.

• Demonstrated success managing complex third-party food service and hospitality vendors.

• Experience leading and developing teams in a fast-paced, rapidly growing environment.

• Strong project management, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently across a geographically distributed portfolio.

• WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• Success in this role means building a scalable, high-performing West Coast F&B operation that supports rapid campus growth while maintaining strong financial discipline, operational excellence, food safety, and employee experience. The ideal candidate is a seasoned F&B operator who understands the business side of the operation, can speak confidently with construction and development teams, holds vendors accountable, and can lead both people and complex projects from concept through execution.

• US Salary Range

• $129,000—$171,000 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 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.

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.

• 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.