Senior Flight Controls Engineer

At Skyways, we are building the next generation of autonomous air transportation. Our fully autonomous unmanned aircraft systems move cargo faster and more efficiently than traditional logistics networks.

Backed by strong investor support and a $37M STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we operate at the intersection of commercial logistics and national defense. Our aircraft are not just prototypes—we design, build, fly, and deploy them with real customers today.

Based in Austin and supported by investors including Y Combinator, Skyways combines rapid engineering iteration with real-world operations. As we scale toward larger deployments, we are looking for people who want to help build and operate the future of autonomous aviation.

What You'll Do:

• Design, implement, and tune flight control algorithms for autonomous fixed‑wing and VTOL aircraft.
• Own control laws end to end, including requirements definition, simulation, flight code, and validation.
• Develop and maintain control system models in simulation environments to support analysis and testing.
• Analyze flight test data and logs to diagnose issues and improve performance.
• Collaborate closely with avionics, autonomy, mechanical, and flight test teams to integrate and validate control systems.
• Support ground and flight testing, including on‑site test campaigns when needed.
• Continuously improve robustness, fault tolerance, and performance across a growing operational envelope.

What You'll Bring:

• Strong fundamentals in control theory, dynamics, and state estimation.
• Experience implementing flight or vehicle control systems in production code.
• Comfort working in C++ and Python in embedded or real‑time systems.
• Hands‑on experience with simulation, controller tuning, and flight or field testing.
• Ability to reason from first principles and debug complex, cross‑disciplinary problems.
• Comfort operating in an early‑stage environment with incomplete requirements and fast iteration cycles.

Bonus Points:

• Experience with UAVs, aerospace systems, or autonomous vehicles.
• Familiarity with PX4, ArduPilot, or similar flight control stacks.
• Experience with hardware‑in‑the‑loop or software‑in‑the‑loop testing.
• Background in fixed‑wing, VTOL, or hybrid aircraft control systems.

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.