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 software execution across autonomy, SkyNav, and internal tools that support aircraft flying today.
- Success in this role is measured by the team’s ability to reliably ship production features, support live deployments, and scale delivery as the company grows.
- Act as a player coach. You will write code, review code, and take on hard problems when needed.
- Work directly with operators and customers to iterate based on live deployments and field feedback.
- Set technical direction through shipped systems and measurable outcomes.
- Partner tightly with hardware, flight, and manufacturing to ensure software and aircraft evolve together.
- Improve reliability, performance, and maintainability as the fleet and customer base scale.
What You'll Bring:
- Proven experience shipping and supporting complex production software systems.
- Experience with autonomy, robotics, or mission planning systems.
- Experience leading software teams while staying close to the technical work.
- Strong systems thinking across autonomy, frontend, backend, and infrastructure.
- Comfort operating in environments where software meets hardware and real world constraints.
- Bias toward execution, ownership, and accountability.
- Hands-on experience building with Python, C++, and Javascript.
Bonus Points:
- Experience supporting software on production hardware, flight systems, or safety-critical systems.
- Startup experience scaling teams and systems while things are still evolving.
- Hands-on experience building with ROS, ElectronJS, Ardupilot, or Mavlink.
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 and supporting complex production software systems
- Experience with autonomy, robotics, or mission planning systems
- Experience leading software teams while staying close to the technical work
- Strong systems thinking across autonomy, frontend, backend, and infrastructure
- Hands-on experience building with Python, C++, and Javascript
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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