How to get a referral at Anduril
The route into Anduril that holds up is a referral or a warm introduction through someone who knows you both, and most applicants never run the search that would find that person.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 31, 2026.
The short version
The best way to get a job at Anduril is a referral or a warm introduction from an employee, and you reach that employee through someone already in your life. Most applicants have the mutual and haven't noticed: a former manager who's now at Anduril, or a friend from a previous company whose old roommate works on the hardware side. Finding that person is the job, and it's a search over the accounts you've already got. Then you ask the one with the strongest tie for an introduction or a referral, in a short message that's easy to say yes to.
Why the warm path beats the queue at Anduril
Anduril builds defense technology, both the hardware and the software that runs it, and hires across engineering, manufacturing, program management, and operations. A company people are that eager to join gets far more applications than its recruiters can weigh carefully, which means the ones that get a careful look are mostly the ones an employee has vouched for already. That vouch is what a referral is, and it's what a warm introduction gives you too.
It doesn't need to come from someone you're close to. It needs to come from someone who can describe, without stretching, how they know you or how they know the person speaking for you. A former manager who's now at Anduril fits, and so does a friend from your last company who offers to introduce you to a college roommate there. Naming those people isn't something you have to do from memory, because your accounts already know.
Finding who you know at Anduril, and who knows them
Your inbox and calendar. Everyone you've emailed or met with who's at Anduril now is a direct line, and the record of how you know them is already there. The catch is that nobody remembers people by the company they joined after you drifted apart, so those names go unnoticed.
LinkedIn's mutual connections. The Anduril company page and every individual profile show the connections you have in common. It's a good check once you've got a particular person in mind.
Happenstance. Happenstance searches all the accounts you connect, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, plus the networks of any friends you've added, and answers in plain English. Ask who you know at Anduril and you get the people, how well you know each one, which account the tie surfaced from, and for anyone a friend knows, the friend who can introduce you. Sidedoor starts from the other end: paste a job posting and it finds who in your network can refer you for it. Happenstance is free. The free plan is the whole product, with usage limits on chat and web searches beyond your network. Pro raises the limits: unlimited web searches and results, higher chat limits, and CSV export. The job-search version of the whole process, from first search to offer, is on Happenstance for job seekers.
The ask
One message, under a hundred words, that names the role and explains how you know each other before saying what you'd like them to do. If the person you're writing to is a mutual and not someone at Anduril, ask for the introduction and include a paragraph they're able to forward without touching it.
Subject: Referral to Anduril
What Happenstance can see
Email is read as headers only. Message content and attachments never reach our servers. Yes. Your connections are searchable only by you, the friends you accept, and the groups you join, and sharing is always mutual. Your public profile shows a constellation of named people you know by default, which you can turn off anytime. We never share, sell, or use your data to train AI models. Happenstance is SOC 2 certified and DTI Trust Level 2; the full list of what is stored and for how long is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
Is a referral or a warm introduction better for a job at Anduril?
Either works, because either puts your application in front of a person rather than a queue, and that's the whole point. A referral means an Anduril employee submits you through the company's own process; a warm introduction means a mutual vouches for you to someone at Anduril, who may go on to refer you, and you should take whichever of the two the person you've reached is comfortable offering.
What if I don't know anyone at Anduril?
You very likely know someone who does. Most introductions travel second-degree paths, such as a former manager whose old colleague is at Anduril or a friend whose college roommate works there. Happenstance searches your own accounts and your friends' networks, so "who do I know at Anduril" comes back with the people one introduction away and the mutual who can connect you.
How do I ask someone at Anduril for a referral?
State the role, link the posting, remind them in one line how you know each other, and say plainly what you'd like, whether that's a referral or an introduction to the hiring manager. Hold the whole thing under a hundred words and leave them an easy way to decline. If you're writing to a mutual rather than an Anduril employee, ask for the introduction and include a paragraph they can forward unchanged.
How does Happenstance find people at Anduril?
Connect the accounts you already use, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and ask in plain English who you know at Anduril. Each result shows how well you know the person and which account the tie came from, and anyone reached through a friend comes with the friend who can introduce you. Sidedoor does the same from a job posting you paste in. Happenstance is free, and Pro raises the limits.
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