Senior Flight Controls Engineer

1w1 week ago

Skyways

Austin, US · Full-time · $150,000 – $200,000

About this role

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. Flight Controls Engineers own the design, implementation, and validation of control systems for safe, reliable flight.

You’ll see your work go from simulation to hardware to flight test quickly and close the loop end-to-end. Tune controllers, dig through logs after flights, and watch changes take off the next week. Collaborate closely with avionics, autonomy, mechanical, and flight test teams to integrate systems.

Backed by Y Combinator and a $37M STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we are moving from prototype to full-rate production. Based in Austin, we are scaling fast with a path to Program of Record. Join to build the world's largest fleet of autonomous logistics aircraft.

Requirements

Strong fundamentals in control theory, dynamics, and state estimation
Experience implementing flight or vehicle control systems in production code
Comfort working in C++ and Python in embedded or real-time systems
Hands-on experience with simulation, controller tuning, and flight or field testing
Ability to reason from first principles and debug complex, cross-disciplinary problems
Comfort operating in an early-stage environment with incomplete requirements and fast iteration cycles
U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or candidate from specific countries authorized under applicable export control regulations due to U.S. government contract requirements

Responsibilities

Design, implement, and tune flight control algorithms for autonomous fixed-wing and VTOL aircraft
Own control laws end to end, including requirements definition, simulation, flight code, and validation
Develop and maintain control system models in simulation environments to support analysis and testing
Analyze flight test data and logs to diagnose issues and improve performance
Collaborate closely with avionics, autonomy, mechanical, and flight test teams to integrate and validate control systems
Support ground and flight testing, including on-site test campaigns when needed
Continuously improve robustness, fault tolerance, and performance across a growing operational envelope