Companies Skyways Senior Manufacturing Engineer

About the role

Skyways
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 helps scale aircraft production from prototype builds to repeatable manufacturing.

You will develop manufacturing processes, tooling, and production workflows that improve build quality, efficiency, and repeatability across the aircraft. Your work will directly impact production throughput, aircraft reliability, and the company’s ability to scale deployments.

You will work closely with mechanical, electrical, flight, and production teams to identify manufacturing bottlenecks, improve assembly processes, and support rapid iteration as aircraft systems evolve.

The ideal candidate is comfortable working directly with hardware, solving problems on the production floor, and building processes that support both fast iteration and long-term scalability.

What You'll Do:

  • Develop manufacturing processes for aircraft components and assemblies

  • Create and maintain work instructions, build documentation, and production workflows

  • Mentor junior manufacturing engineers and technicians, and set the standard for process quality and documentation on the production floor
  • Design tooling, fixtures, and assembly aids that improve manufacturing efficiency and repeatability

  • Support aircraft integration, assembly, and production activities

  • Troubleshoot manufacturing and integration issues during aircraft builds

  • Work closely with engineering teams to improve design for manufacturability and assembly

  • Collaborate with suppliers and vendors to support hardware production and quality

  • Identify process improvements that increase build efficiency, quality, and production readiness

  • Support the transition from prototype aircraft builds toward scalable production systems

  • What You'll Bring:

  • 5+ years developing manufacturing processes for complex hardware, including ownership of process or production workstreams
  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related field

  • Experience supporting hardware builds, integration, or production environments

  • Experience creating work instructions, assembly procedures, and production documentation

  • Strong troubleshooting and root-cause problem-solving skills

  • Ability to work directly with technicians, engineers, and production teams

  • Experience improving manufacturability, assembly efficiency, or production quality

  • Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills

  • Bonus Points:

  • Experience with aerospace, robotics, or autonomous systems manufacturing

  • Experience working with composite structures or lightweight aircraft assemblies

  • Experience supporting low-volume or early-stage production environments

  • Experience developing tooling, fixtures, or production automation systems

  • Familiarity with CAD and manufacturing documentation workflows


  • Want to join our mission? Apply to learn more!

    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.

    Ready to apply to Skyways?
    Apply to Skyways

    Similar jobs

    Sign up for suggestions tailored to the jobs you open and the searches you save.

    Apply now
    🤖

    Whoa — hold up

    JobsRadar was built for real people having a rough time in their job search — not for automated requests. You're clicking way too fast and you're now temporarily blocked.

    Come back later. If you're genuinely job hunting, we've got your back — just act like a human.

    Catch your next role the second it’s posted.

    Create a free account and we’ll watch the boards for you — the instant a job matches your search, it lands in your inbox or Telegram. No digging, no refreshing.

    Create free account

    Free forever · takes 30 seconds · already have one?

    Get the worldwide-remote edge.

    Join our Telegram channel for the stuff that helps you land the role — salary benchmarks, the weekly market pulse, and new-feature drops. No spam, just signal.

    Join the channel — it's free