AustinQuick Summary
Skyways designs, builds, and operates fully autonomous long-range cargo aircraft. We have been flying real missions with real customers since 2017.
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.
This role owns how autonomy works in real-world flight.
You will define how perception, state estimation, planning, and flight behaviors come together into a system that actually completes missions reliably. This is not about building isolated components. It is about making the full stack work under real constraints.
You will shape how our ML systems improve with real-world data and ensure they perform outside of ideal conditions.
This is not an entry-level role. We are looking for someone who has already built and deployed autonomy systems on real-world robotic or UAV platforms.
You will lead a small team while staying hands-on in architecture, implementation, and flight debugging. Your work directly impacts whether aircraft complete missions safely and consistently.
Own the end-to-end autonomy system across perception, state estimation, planning, and system behavior
Define system architecture and make tradeoffs across performance, reliability, and complexity
Lead engineers and set technical direction for autonomy development
Work directly in the codebase on critical parts of the stack
Drive integration across GNC, hardware, and mission planning systems
Own how perception and ML models are developed, evaluated, and improved using real-world data
Drive dataset strategy, labeling, and iteration loops to improve system performance
Evaluate model performance in real-world conditions and close gaps between simulation and deployment
Define how autonomy is validated across simulation, ground testing, and flight testing
Debug real-world failures using flight data, logs, and system-level analysis
Identify gaps in the current system and drive changes needed for reliable deployment
Set execution standards for autonomy development and delivery
You have owned autonomy systems that operated in the real world, not just simulation or research environments
Strong system-level understanding across perception, estimation, and planning, with depth in at least one area
Experience training, evaluating, or improving ML models used in real-world robotic or autonomy systems
Experience working with real-world datasets, labeling pipelines, and model iteration cycles
Experience taking at least one autonomy system from early development through real-world deployment and iteration
Strong proficiency in C++ and Python
Experience working across software, hardware, and flight or field operations
Ability to make practical tradeoffs under real constraints and deliver working systems
Experience leading engineers and driving technical direction
Experience debugging real-world autonomy failures using logs, telemetry, or flight data
Experience with autonomous aircraft or aerial systems
Background in robotics, computer vision, or motion planning
Experience with real-time or embedded systems
Familiarity with ROS2 or similar robotics frameworks
Experience deploying ML models to resource-constrained or real-time systems
Location & Eligibility
Listing Details
- Posted
- March 30, 2026
- First seen
- March 31, 2026
- Last seen
- April 27, 2026
Posting Health
- Days active
- 27
- Repost count
- 0
- Trust Level
- 31%
- Scored at
- April 27, 2026
Signal breakdown
Please let Skyways know you found this job on Jobera.
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Autonomy Lead