Autonomous Drone Mechanical Design Engineer

The Robot Age; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Skydio in San Mateo, CA is seeking a product design engineer to shape the mechanical systems behind its autonomous drones, ground stations, and accessories. You will take designs from early architecture through prototyping, testing, vendor work, and production support, with hands-on, hardware-focused work in R&D.

The role emphasizes tactile, technical product design close to deployed drone systems rather than digital UX, requiring strong CAD, prototyping, and collaboration with manufacturing and

Qualifications

• Product development experience with mechanical systems.
• Strong fundamentals in mechanical engineering and analytical problem-solving.
• Advanced 3D CAD experience (CATIA preferred).
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes (injection molding, casting, CNC machining, sheet metal, or composites).
• Ability prototyping quickly while producing production-quality drawings and documentation.

Responsibilities

• Design mechanical parts and assemblies for aircraft, ground stations, and accessories.
• Integrate structures, mechanisms, antennas, cable harnesses, and custom electronics into drone hardware.
• Define tests and use analysis to compare design tradeoffs.
• Collaborate with vendors, operations, supply chain, manufacturing, and factory teams.
• Debug failures and carry designs from prototype into pre-production and mass production.

Skills

Mechanical design

Analytical thinking

CATIA CAD

Manufacturing awareness

Prototyping to production

Tools

CATIA

Job description

Skydio in San Mateo, CA is seeking a product design engineer to shape the mechanical systems behind its autonomous drones, ground stations, and accessories. You will take designs from early architecture through prototyping, testing, vendor work, and production support, with hands-on, hardware-focused work in R&D.

The role emphasizes tactile, technical product design close to deployed drone systems rather than digital UX, requiring strong CAD, prototyping, and collaboration with manufacturing and