Senior Software Engineer, Skydio

Manufacturing Software

$160-210k

+ Stock options

React
AWS
TypeScript
Python
Linux
Terraform
C++
C
Flask
Drone
Senior level
San Francisco Bay Area

Office located in San Mateo, CA

Skydio

Drone manufacturer

Job no longer available

Skydio

Drone manufacturer

501-1000 employees

B2BArtificial IntelligenceManufacturingDrones

Job no longer available

$160-210k

+ Stock options

React
AWS
TypeScript
Python
Linux
Terraform
C++
C
Flask
Drone
Senior level
San Francisco Bay Area

Office located in San Mateo, CA

501-1000 employees

B2BArtificial IntelligenceManufacturingDrones

Company mission

To make the world more productive, creative, and safe with autonomous flight.

Role

Who you are

  • You love having fun building great products and enjoy working on systems that involve both hardware and software (5+ years of experience required)
  • You are very comfortable with Python and have strong coding fundamentals
  • You are comfortable navigating and delivering within a complex codebase
  • You have demonstrated the ability to take a concept and systematically drive it through the software lifecycle: architecture, development, testing, deployment, and monitoring
  • You’re a patient troubleshooter, comfortable asking for help when you need it, and giving help whenever you can
  • Willingness for light travel - a few days at a time, a few times a year
  • You get excited by How It's Made or Factorio and want to get paid to work on the machine that builds the machines

What the job involves

  • As a member of the Manufacturing Software and Automation team, you'll be a core contributor, helping us build quality drones (along with associated attachments and accessories) at scale to meet growing consumer demands, turning prototypes into finished products
  • The processes and tools you build will have a significant impact on the company's scale and success
  • This team is highly cross-functional. It sits at the intersection of backend (Python + Flask), embedded software (C++/C), frontend (React + Typescript), and electrical engineering (Robotics and Hardware Fixtures)
  • Build and maintain a Hardware-In-the-Loop system for continuous testing of the hardware and software components of our drones and build systems
  • Design a deployment system for sending code physical machines all over the globe, inside of challenging and hostile networks, with redundant safety systems
  • Build a visual configuration tool for documenting and changing how mass production processes work and change on the fly
  • Develop our robot calibration process that can distinguish between hardware and software failures and suggest next steps for assembly rework
  • Create a dashboard that visualizes the state of the factory to help engineers debug faster
  • Develop an automated test fixture that assesses drone sensors and actuators to minimize operator interaction
  • How you'll make an impact:
  • Architect our next-generation production systems, from front to back end to infrastructure
  • Design secure, efficient, observable, and robust software for dealing with real-time and historical data generated by the factory
  • Keep the factory running smoothly by writing clear code that is easy to debug
  • Look at a process and ask, "How can this be made faster, more reliable, scalable, and less human-dependent?" - and then make that happen

Our take

A leader in autonomous flight, Skydio builds drones that can track and film targets while avoiding obstacles. Its products have a wide range of applications, most notably for businesses that need to undertake inspections in unsafe places. The drones are also valuable to search and rescue efforts, police forces, and the US army.

Backed by a range of top investors and strategic partners (including Andreesen Horowitz, Levitate Capital, and Next 47) Skydio sets itself apart from its competitors by marketing its products predominantly to businesses. With technology such as 3D scanning and a 360-degree superzoom mode, its drones have a wide range of applications and functionality.

The company raised funding in 2023, which has boosted its valuation to over $2 billion. It has since focussed on R&D, developing and launching the X10 model which is designed for first responders and the military, as well as enhancing its remote control and thermal imaging capabilities. As the largest American drone company, there is no reason Skydio shouldn't remain a key industry actor for years to come.

Kirsty headshot

Kirsty

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle

Insights

Top investors

Some candidates hear
back within 2 weeks

24% employee growth in 12 months

Company

Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)

Feb 2023

$230m

SERIES E

Feb 2021

$171m

SERIES D

Total funding: $571m

Company benefits

  • Work from home opportunities

Company values

  • We consider the holistic impact our products have on communities and countries
  • We use our role as a leader in autonomous flight technology to promote the responsible development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • We proactively promote best practices on the responsible use of our products with our customers
  • We engage in policy and regulatory efforts to support laws, policies, and standards aligned with our values
  • We engage in a responsible way with public sector customers in the United States and other free societies
  • We will not sell our products to repressive regimes
  • We will not put weapons on our drones and will oppose fully autonomous lethal weapons systems
  • We seek to create connections between our employees and the customers we serve beyond simply providing products and services
  • We seek to provide flexibility and freedom for people to choose what they work on

Company HQ

Western Hills, San Mateo, CA

Leadership

Having studied at MIT, they spent a year and a half at Google as a Software Engineer. They left this position in February 2014 to co-found Skydio.

Earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, and was a Software Engineer for Google's Project Wing.

Previously a Research Assistant at MIT Media Lab and a Mobile Engineer at Pocket Gems.

Salary benchmarks

We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.

Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.

Share this job

View 15 more jobs at Skydio