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Senior Manager, Hardware Design Engineering

Skydio· R&D
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San Mateo, California, United States$230k - $325kFull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Lead teams to architect, develop, and refine mechanical structures, mechanisms, and solutions for Skydio's autonomous flight platforms, including the F10 ecosystem (winged vehicle and ground systems/dock), from concept to mass production.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the development of a cutting-edge vehicle platform - from concept to production - integrating state-of-the-art compute, sensor, connectivity, and aerodynamics to power the world’s most advanced autonomous drone systems.
  • Manage the mechanical team tasked with bringing the F10 ecosystem to market - this includes overseeing the mechanical development and delivery of both the winged vehicle and the ground systems/dock.
  • Work closely with cross-functional teams - including product, electrical engineering, flight core, software, quality and reliability engineering, program management, supply chain, manufacturing, testing, and operations - to drive new product development from prototype through mass production.
  • Identify and drive downselections on key architecture and technology decisions taking into consideration aero, weight, thermal, reliability implications.
  • Design mechanical parts and assemblies for our aircraft, ground stations, and other key accessories from the ground-up as part of new architectures.
  • Collaborate closely with electrical engineers to shape and integrate custom PCBAs, flex circuits, antennas, and cable harnesses.
  • Interface with and own technical activity at vendors in partnership with operations and supply chain teams.
  • Define and execute engineering tests and utilize analysis to evaluate system trade-offs and prove your design.
  • Drive designs throughout the development cycle from prototyping to pre-production and into mass production. Support our internal manufacturing and factory teams with assembly processes, quality and inspection criteria, etc.
  • Debug and investigate failures with an eye for the smallest details and a commitment to reach the deepest causes.

Qualifications

  • Being a bad-ass mechanical and/or aerospace engineer, with deep technical skills and the ability to lead teams to deliver extremely technically challenging products.
  • Prior experience of management and product development with a proven track record of technical excellence, execution, enthusiasm, delivery, and cooperation.
  • Strong system-level design skills, with a sharp eye for mapping technical dependencies and translating complex requirements into execution.
  • Experience in aerospace or aviation design, bringing a first-principles approach to solving complex mechanical, thermal, and systems-integration challenges.
  • Ability to apply analytical problem solving skills and engineering fundamentals to create high-quality designs for a sophisticated electromechanical system.
  • Mastery of 3D CAD, specifically as used in developing complex assemblies along with an acute sense of when to hack and when to build elegant parametrics. Experience with CATIA strongly preferred.
  • Experience with design for a broad array of manufacturing processes (injection molding, metal casting, CNC machining, sheet metal forming, composites, foam).
  • Solid sense of how best to prototype quickly and efficiently in a fast-paced environment.
  • Ability to produce well-constructed, thorough mechanical part and assembly drawings.
  • Deep passion for elegant mechanical design at the highest and lowest levels of detail.
  • A strategic mind across the full design, source, build, validate, and ship process. Proven ability to make considered decisions at various stages.
  • Obtaining FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days of employment is strongly encouraged for all Skydio employees and required for certain positions.

Skills

Required:3D CADProduct development leadershipDesign for manufacturability (DFM) across multiple processesSystems integration

Benefits

  • Paid vacation time
  • Sick leave
  • Holiday pay
  • 401K savings plan
Last updated Sep 10, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Skydio

A family of flying robots.

AI-powered autonomous drones for Drone as First Responder (DFR), critical infrastructure inspection, tactical ISR, site security, surveying and mapping

DronesAutonomous SystemsInspectionSecurityMappingPublic SafetyNational Security
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