Senior Flight Controls Engineer

At Skyways, we are building a new form of air transportation—what some call the flying car. Backed by fresh funding and a major STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we’re uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of aviation innovation. Our fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent a breakthrough opportunity to move goods—and soon, people—in ways that are faster, safer, and more efficient than ever before.

Unlike anyone else in the industry, our strategy blends rapid iteration with real-world deployment, and it’s already paying off.

Skyways is a fast-growing startup based in Austin, TX, supported by top Silicon Valley investors including Y Combinator. Though we’re early-stage, our vehicles are already in production and in the hands of paying commercial customers (see here and here). With robust financial backing and government partnerships accelerating our momentum, there’s never been a better time to join us and help build the future of transportation!

At Skyways, Flight Controls Engineers sit at the center of whether our aircraft flies the way it should — safely, reliably, and repeatedly. This role owns the design, implementation, and validation of the control systems that keep our autonomous aircraft stable across real-world operations. You’ll see your work go from simulation to hardware to flight test quickly, and you’ll be expected to close the loop all the way.

If you like tuning controllers, digging through logs after a flight, and watching your changes take off the next week, you’ll fit right in.

• 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.

• 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.

• Experience with UAVs, aerospace systems, or autonomous vehicles.
• Familiarity with PX4, Ardu Pilot, or similar flight control stacks.
• Experience with hardware‑in‑the‑loop or software‑in‑the‑loop testing.
• Background in fixed‑wing, VTOL, or hybrid aircraft control systems.

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.

Want to join our mission? Apply to learn more!

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.