Drone Manufacturing Design Lead

Skydio, Inc.; Hayward, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 219,000; Full time

Job summary

Skydio, Inc. in Hayward, CA is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Design Engineer to bridge product development and high-volume production for unmanned aircraft systems.

The role drives new product introduction, process development, and scale-up on the factory floor. You will lead cross-functional efforts with Design, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Test, translate forecasts to capacity, and implement robust, safe, and cost-effective manufacturing processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in manufacturing, mechanical, industrial, electrical engineering, mechatronics, or related field.
• 3+ years in manufacturing engineering, process development, NPI, or production engineering.
• Experience transitioning electromechanical products to production.
• Working knowledge of DFM, process validation, tooling, and manufacturing docs.
• Structured problem-solving and root-cause analysis experience.
• Ability to read drawings, specs, BOMs, and GD&T.
• Experience analyzing manufacturing data to improve yield/cycle time/cost.
• Strong written and verbal communication; floor-work willingness.
• FAA Part 107 certification encouraged within 60 days.

Responsibilities

• Lead manufacturing activities for new drone products from prototype to production launch.
• Develop manufacturing plans, flows, layouts, tooling strategies, readiness requirements.
• Provide manufacturing feedback from design reviews for FDM, assembly, test, serviceability.
• Coordinate prototype, validation, and production builds.
• Identify risks and drive mitigation to closure.
• Establish production-readiness criteria and lead readiness reviews.
• Develop processes for mechanical assembly, electronics integration, bonding, soldering, calibration, testing.
• Define critical process parameters and characteristics impacting safety/performance.
• Create process specs, work instructions, control plans, and BOMs.
• Design tooling, fixtures, and semi-automated equipment.
• Run process capability and gauge R&R studies; equipment qualification.
• Use statistics to set robust operating windows.
• Translate forecasts into labor, equipment, and space needs.
• Perform time studies, line balancing, capacity modeling.
• Improve flow, ergonomics, and operator utilization.
• Develop scalable processes for increasing production volume.
• Identify automation opportunities based on ROI and safety.

Skills

Manufacturing engineering

Process development

New product introduction

Production engineering

Design for manufacturing

Root-cause analysis

Data analysis

Communication skills

FAA Part 107 certification

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related technical field

Tools

CAD

Tolerance analysis

Statistical analysis

Manufacturing simulation tools

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma

Design for Six Sigma

MES tools

ERP tools

PLM tools

Job description

Skydio, Inc. in Hayward, CA is seeking a Senior Manufacturing Design Engineer to bridge product development and high-volume production for unmanned aircraft systems.

The role drives new product introduction, process development, and scale-up on the factory floor. You will lead cross-functional efforts with Design, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Test, translate forecasts to capacity, and implement robust, safe, and cost-effective manufacturing processes.