Skyways designs, builds, and operates fully autonomous long-range cargo aircraft. We have been flying real missions with real customers since 2017.
Our V2 carries 30 lbs up to 500 miles and our V3 carries 100 lbs over 1,000 miles with 20+ hours of endurance. Both use a dual-hybrid design that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like a plane. We are currently flying on three continents, in controlled national airspace under FAA oversight, and in support of U.S. military operations.
Backed by Y Combinator and a $37M STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we are moving from prototype to full-rate production with a path to Program of Record. Based in Austin, we are scaling fast and hiring people who want to build the world's largest fleet of autonomous logistics aircraft.
What You'll Do:
- Own aircraft hardware execution across structures, avionics, power, and system integration.
- Lead and grow the hardware engineering team with a strong emphasis on quality, accountability, and velocity.
- Make and drive critical technical decisions through design reviews, trade studies, and system integration.
- Take hardware from prototype to production with a focus on manufacturability and reliability.
- Partner closely with manufacturing, supply chain, and flight test to close the loop between design, production, and operations.
- Establish hardware standards, documentation, and test practices that scale with the fleet.
- Support certification, compliance, and customer driven requirements as programs mature.
What You'll Bring:
- Proven experience shipping complex hardware systems into production.
- Experience leading hardware teams while staying close to design and integration work.
- Strong background in avionics, aircraft systems, or tightly integrated electromechanical platforms.
- Experience with UAVs, aircraft certification environments, or defense programs.
- A track record of building hardware that performs in real operational environments.
- Comfort operating in fast moving teams with real schedule, cost, and mission constraints.
- Willingness to be on the floor, at the flight line, and in the loop when things break.
Bonus Points:
- Experience scaling hardware from early production to higher volume.
- Startup experience building teams, processes, and systems from the ground up.
Want to join our mission? Apply to learn more!
Due to U.S. government contract requirements, this role is limited to U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or candidates from specific countries authorized under applicable export control regulations.
Skyways is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other factor protected by applicable local, state or federal laws.
Skills Required
- Proven experience shipping complex hardware systems into production
- Experience leading hardware teams while staying close to design and integration work
- Strong background in avionics, aircraft systems, or tightly integrated electromechanical platforms
- Experience with UAVs, aircraft certification environments, or defense programs
- A track record of building hardware that performs in real operational environments
- Comfort operating in fast moving teams with real schedule, cost, and mission constraints
- Willingness to be on the floor, at the flight line, and in the loop when things break
Skyways Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Skyways and has not been reviewed or approved by Skyways.
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Healthcare Strength — Employee medical and dental are employer-paid with additional vision and HSA/FSA options noted; core health coverage appears strong for a hardware/robotics startup.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Stock options are offered to every employee and performance bonuses are listed; ownership upside is broadly accessible across the organization.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off is described as generous, with paid holidays and generous parental leave highlighted; the breadth of leave supports work-life needs beyond baseline policies.
Skyways Insights
What We Do
We are creating a new form of transportation to advance the future of our civilization. Our story starts with fully autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicles with vertical take-off and landing capability and used for cargo transportation.
Why Work With Us
We are creating a new form of transportation to advance the future of our civilization. Skyways is building fully autonomous cargo aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capability to transform how goods move. Join a small, ambitious team solving hard aerospace and autonomy problems with real world impact.
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