Skyways4mo ago

Senior RF & EMC Engineer

United States·AustinFull-timesenior

OtherEngineerRf Systems Engineer

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Quick Summary

Overview

At Skyways, we are building the future of air transportation with our fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Backed by significant funding, including a major $37M STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we are focused on commercial and defense markets.

Technical Tools

OtherEngineerRf Systems Engineer

Skyways designs, builds, and operates fully autonomous long-range cargo aircraft. Founded in 2017, the company has spent the last eight years developing and deploying autonomous logistics systems for real-world operations.

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

This role owns RF, communications, and EMI/EMC across our autonomous aircraft platforms.

You will design, integrate, and validate the systems that keep our aircraft connected and reliable in demanding real-world environments: telemetry, command-and-control, navigation, payload, and networking. You will also own EMI/EMC across the aircraft, diagnosing and mitigating the interference and coupling problems that surface when dense electronics, high-power systems, and sensitive RF all share one airframe.

This is a hands-on systems role. You will move between architecture and the bench, working across avionics, electrical, autonomy, and flight operations to solve problems that span interference, antenna integration, signal integrity, EMI/EMC, and long-range communications performance. Your work directly impacts connectivity, BVLOS capability, operational reliability, and system robustness across deployed fleets.

The ideal candidate has built and debugged RF and communications systems on aerospace, robotics, defense, or autonomous platforms, and has real EMI/EMC depth, not just familiarity.

Own RF and wireless communication systems for autonomous aircraft, from design through integration and validation

Own EMI/EMC analysis, mitigation, and validation across aircraft systems

Drive telemetry, command-and-control, payload, navigation, and networking systems

Debug RF performance issues across interference, signal quality, antenna performance, and integration

Diagnose and resolve EMI/EMC issues on integrated hardware, from component selection through aircraft-level test

Partner with avionics, electrical, autonomy, and flight operations teams through integration and testing

Lead RF and EMC validation across ground and flight testing in operational environments

Build test procedures, integration workflows, and troubleshooting processes for RF and EMC systems

Improve reliability, robustness, and scalability across deployed aircraft platforms

5+ years designing, integrating, and troubleshooting RF and communications systems, with end-to-end ownership of system-level problems

Hands-on EMI/EMC experience diagnosing and mitigating interference and coupling on integrated hardware, MIL-STD-461 or equivalent

Strong RF fundamentals including antennas, signal propagation, interference, and signal integrity

Experience with embedded systems, avionics, networking, or communications hardware

Proven track record debugging integrated hardware systems in lab and field environments

Fluency with RF and EMC test equipment such as spectrum analyzers, VNAs, oscilloscopes, SDR platforms, and EMC test setups

Ability to work across hardware, software, and operational teams to solve complex system issues

Strong communication and problem-solving skills

Experience with aerospace, UAV, robotics, or defense systems

Experience with BVLOS communications or long-range telemetry systems

Familiarity with cellular, mesh, SATCOM, GNSS, or software-defined radio systems

EMC qualification and compliance testing to MIL-STD-461, DO-160, or equivalent

Amateur radio license or practical RF hobbyist experience

Experience supporting flight test or deployed field systems

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.