The Self-Made Engineer: Ruby Granillo
Meet the software & hardware engineers, flight operators, customer specialists and product managers who are building the future of defense at Anduril.

Flight test engineer Ruby Granillo at Anduril’s Capistrano Test Site

“I find myself at the test site flying drones and often think to myself, ‘Is this really my job?’” says Ruby Granillo, an Anduril flight test engineer focused on the Ghost sUAS. She is responsible for executing flight operations and tests the Ghost sUAS hardware and software which is constantly under development.

“There are days where everything works smoothly and it really doesn’t feel like a job. My favorite part of working at Anduril is flying drones at the test site,” she says.

Originally from Mexico, Ruby immigrated to the U.S. ten years ago as a high school student, mostly living on her own and supporting herself with part-time jobs. She worked her way through college too, becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree.

After graduating from California State University, Long Beach, with a degree in aerospace engineering, Ruby took a systems engineering position at start-up Vector Launch, where she worked on launch vehicles and the processes behind them. When that company folded and she was searching for a new job, a LinkedIn ad for Anduril popped up and caught her attention.

It was important to Ruby to be part of a corporate culture that empowers employees to make a tangible impact on company operations.

“I wanted an opportunity to have a say and a large impact at a company. I went to the onsite interview to find out more about Anduril and how the company operated. I found that employees were friendly, transparent, and open to ideas — it seemed like the perfect environment to thrive and grow my career,” she says.

Reflecting on her accomplishments at Anduril so far, Ruby says the work is very rewarding. On a recent visit to a military base to fly drones for customers, she took a moment for herself; “I was sitting there looking at all the things going around me. It just felt really good to say, you know, ‘I made it! I got to this point in life!’”

Beyond her involvement with drone testing, she’s often with “Women of Anduril,” an all-female group of Anduril employees who chat throughout the day, hangout, and have lunch — even over Zoom.

Being connected to a network of female engineers is not new for Ruby, who is an active member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), leading outreach to underserved youth. “I find that it’s very important to try and convince young girls that engineering is an awesome field and has lots of exciting opportunities — I think it’s necessary to mentor younger kids.”

Ready for a career at Anduril? Check out our openings: https://www.anduril.com/careers
['Anduril Industries']
['Artificial Intelligence', 'Recruiting', 'Hiring', 'Drones', 'Defense']