What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Software Engineer position at Skyways?
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.
Backed by Y Combinator and a $37M STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we are moving from prototype to full-rate production with a path to Program of Record. Based in Austin, we are scaling fast and hiring people who want to build the world's largest fleet of autonomous logistics aircraft.
The Opportunity
We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help build and evolve SkyNav, our mission planning and ground control platform for autonomous aircraft operations.
This role is ideal for engineers who have worked on aviation systems, robotics platforms, autonomy software, or other real time operational systems where software directly interfaces with hardware and live operations.
You’ll work closely with a multidisciplinary team across autonomy, GNC, robotics, flight operations, and backend infrastructure to build the operator tools that power our aircraft in the field. The work focuses heavily on desktop applications, mapping and geospatial visualization, real time telemetry, and intuitive interfaces for mission critical workflows.
We are specifically looking for engineers with strong experience in aviation or robotics environments, modern ElectronJS desktop applications, and mapping or 3D visualization systems.
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Build and improve SkyNav, our mission planning and ground control application used during real flight operations.
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Develop high performance desktop applications using ElectronJS, React, and modern JavaScript or TypeScript frameworks.
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Build interactive interfaces for mission planning, telemetry visualization, aircraft monitoring, and operational decision making.
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Develop mapping, geospatial, and 3D visualization systems used to display aircraft state, routes, terrain, airspace, and mission data.
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Work with real time telemetry and operational data streams where responsiveness and reliability are critical.
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Collaborate closely with autonomy, robotics, GNC, flight operations, and backend engineers to turn operational requirements into intuitive operator experiences.
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Contribute to frontend architecture, application performance, maintainability, and system reliability as the platform scales.
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Iterate rapidly with direct feedback from operators, pilots, and deployed customer missions.
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Help improve engineering quality through strong software design, code reviews, and technical collaboration.
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5 years of professional software engineering experience building complex production systems.
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Experience working on aviation, robotics, autonomy, industrial, simulation, or other real time operational systems.
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Experience building mapping, geospatial, or 3D visualization applications.
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Strong experience building desktop applications using ElectronJS.
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Strong experience with React and modern JavaScript or TypeScript development.
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Experience with technologies such as CesiumJS, Three.js, Mapbox, WebGL, or similar visualization frameworks.
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Experience working with live telemetry, streaming systems, or operator facing control software.
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Strong software engineering fundamentals including system design, debugging, testing, and maintainable architecture.
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Ability to work cross functionally with software, robotics, hardware, and operations teams in a fast moving environment.
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Comfort working on systems where reliability, clarity, and operational usability matter.
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Background in unmanned aviation, aerospace, robotics, or defense systems.
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Experience building mission planning or ground control software.
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Familiarity with MAVLink, PX4, ROS, or similar robotics and autonomy ecosystems.
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Experience with terrain systems, simulation environments, or sensor visualization pipelines.
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Experience managing complex frontend state with MobX or similar frameworks.
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Experience shipping production software in startup or high ownership environments.
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Experience building software for operationally critical or safety conscious systems.
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.