Our V2 aircraft carries 30 lbs up to 500 miles, while our next-generation V3 carries 100 lbs over 1,000+ miles with 20+ hours of endurance. Both use a hybrid-electric architecture that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like a plane, enabling long-range autonomous delivery without traditional runway infrastructure.
Today, Skyways aircraft operate across three continents in controlled national airspace under FAA oversight and in support of U.S. military operations. We are transitioning from prototype development to full-rate production and scaling toward large autonomous cargo fleets.
Backed by Y Combinator and a $37M AFWERX STRATFI award from the U.S. Air Force, Skyways is creating a new form of transportation to advance our civilization from Austin, Texas.
The Opportunity
Skyways is hiring a Senior Reliability Engineer to lead technical investigations and drive closure of reliability issues across our active V2 and V3 aircraft fleets.
In this role, you will serve as the technical owner for Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) activities. You will work closely with Flight Test, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Software Engineering, Manufacturing, and Operations teams to investigate failures, validate corrective actions, and improve fleet reliability.
If you enjoy solving difficult technical problems, digging through flight data, working hands-on with hardware, and collaborating across multiple disciplines to improve real-world aircraft performance, this is for you!
What You'll Do:
Lead the RCCA Lifecycle: Own the end-to-end investigation process for fleet reliability issues, from initial intake and root-cause analysis through to implementation, validation, and permanent closure.
Drive Data-Driven Insights: Analyze complex flight logs, telemetry, manufacturing, and maintenance data to identify systemic reliability trends and recurring failure modes.
Collaborate Across Disciplines: Partner with Flight Test, Manufacturing, Software, and Engineering teams to reproduce anomalies, conduct hands-on investigations, and deploy corrective actions.
Communicate & Document Findings: Author technical reports and RCCA documentation suitable for engineering reviews, leadership, and regulatory needs, ensuring clear communication of engineering decisions.
Improve Fleet Health: Proactively contribute to reliability metrics, continuous improvement initiatives, and design feedback loops to ensure lessons learned improve future aircraft performance.
What You'll Bring:
Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
7+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, defense, autonomous systems, robotics, aviation, automotive, or other safety-critical industries.
Strong troubleshooting and systems-level problem-solving skills across hardware, software, and operational environments.
Experience applying investigation methodologies such as 8D, 5-Why, Fishbone, Fault Tree Analysis, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), or similar approaches.
Strong technical writing and communication skills with the ability to clearly communicate findings to engineers, leadership, customers, and external stakeholders.
Comfortable working hands-on with aircraft hardware, instrumentation, test equipment, and troubleshooting activities.
Proficiency with Python, SQL, or similar tools for data analysis and trend identification.
Bonus Points:
Experience supporting unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), autonomous vehicles, or aviation platforms.
Familiarity with ArduPilot, PX4, MAVLink, DroneCAN, or comparable flight-control ecosystems.
Experience investigating avionics, GPS, navigation, communications, propulsion, power-system, battery, or flight-control issues.
Experience with reliability engineering practices such as FRACAS, MTBF analysis, reliability growth tracking, and fleet health monitoring.
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
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or related technical discipline.
- 7+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, defense, autonomous systems, robotics, aviation, automotive, or other safety-critical industries.
- Strong troubleshooting and systems-level problem-solving skills across hardware, software, and operational environments.
- Experience applying investigation methodologies such as 8D, 5-Why, Fishbone, Fault Tree Analysis, or FMEA.
- Strong technical writing and communication skills for engineers, leadership, customers, and external stakeholders.
- Comfortable working hands-on with aircraft hardware, instrumentation, test equipment, and troubleshooting activities.
- Proficiency with Python, SQL, or similar tools for data analysis and trend identification.
- Experience supporting unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), autonomous vehicles, or aviation platforms.
- Familiarity with ArduPilot, PX4, MAVLink, DroneCAN, or comparable flight-control ecosystems.
- Experience investigating avionics, GPS, navigation, communications, propulsion, power-system, battery, or flight-control issues.
- Experience with reliability engineering practices such as FRACAS, MTBF analysis, reliability growth tracking, and fleet health monitoring.
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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