Senior Autonomy Engineer, Data Curation

Skydio; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid vacation time

401(k) savings plan

Job summary

Skydio is looking for a Senior Engineer on the Autonomy Data Curation team to help build a data flywheel by collecting and curating data from drones.

The role requires strong software engineering experience and proficiency in programming languages like Python or C++. The compensation package is competitive, including a salary range of $170,000 – $240,000, along with comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with ownership of production systems.
• Experience building data pipelines for large-scale datasets and data modeling.
• Ability to work across ambiguous interfaces and drive decisions.

Responsibilities

• Build pipelines that transform raw autonomy logs and media into curated datasets.
• Improve dataset quality and repeatability through automated checks.
• Build tooling for fast data discovery and slicing.

Skills

Software engineering experience

Programming proficiency (Python/C++)

Data pipeline construction

Data modeling and schema evolution

Reliability engineering

Decision driving across ambiguous interfaces

Job description

Skydio is the leading U.S. drone company and the world leader in autonomous flight, the key technology for the future of drones and aerial mobility. The Skydio team combines deep expertise in artificial intelligence, best‑in‑class hardware and software product development, operational excellence, and customer obsession to empower a broader, more diverse audience of drone users, from utility inspectors to first responders, soldiers in battlefield scenarios, and beyond.

About The Role

As a Senior Engineer on the Autonomy Data Curation team, you’ll help build a data flywheel. You’ll collect the data that matters most from internal and external fleets of drones and turn it into high‑quality, model‑ready datasets that Autonomy teams can consume quickly and confidently for training and model development. Close peers will include the Deep Learning and Computer Vision teams. This role is an individual contributor who will report to the Director of Autonomy Data Curation.

How You’ll Make an Impact

• Build and operate pipelines that transform raw autonomy logs & media into curated datasets with strong observability and clear ownership to make curated data more broadly reusable.
• Build tooling that makes data discovery and slicing fast and self‑serve for Autonomy teams (e.g., media search tooling and hard‑mining loops with infrastructure for auto‑routing data to annotation).
• Improve dataset quality and repeatability: versioning, provenance, and automated checks.
• Apply privacy and security requirements throughout our processes (access controls, retention, redaction/anonymization).
• Build with a data‑driven and impact‑forward mindset with dashboards highlighting cost, dataset balance, and audit details.

What Makes You a Good Fit

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience (or equivalent), with significant ownership of production systems.
• Strong proficiency in programming, demonstrable in at least one of our most frequently used languages (Python/C++).
• Hands‑on experience building data pipelines for large‑scale datasets (ETL/ELT, streaming or batch, orchestration).
• Experience with data modeling, schema evolution, and dataset/version management.
• Solid understanding of reliability engineering: monitoring, incident response, backfills, and operational rigor.
• Ability to work across ambiguous interfaces (data + tooling + model consumers) and drive decisions.
• Obtaining FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days of employment is strongly encouraged for all Skydio employees and required for certain positions.

Nice to Have

• Experience with autonomy/robotics data: flight logs, self‑driving car data, sensor fusion traces, video, geospatial metadata.
• Experience with labeling workflows, annotation tooling, and labeling QA at scale.
• Familiarity with privacy concepts (PII handling, redaction, access control, audit logs).
• Experience with vector/semantic search over media or telemetry.
• Experience building hard‑mining evaluation loops for ML models.

Compensation

At Skydio, our compensation packages for regular, full‑time employees include competitive base salaries, equity in the form of stock options, and comprehensive benefits packages. Compensation will vary based on factors, including skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience. Relocation assistance may also be provided for eligible roles. The annual base salary range for this position is $170,000 – $240,000. This position and all associated benefits are subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws, as well as the Company’s policies and eligibility criteria.

• Compensation for certain positions may vary based on the position’s location.

Benefits

Regular, full‑time employees are eligible to enroll in the Company’s group health insurance plans. They are also eligible to receive paid vacation time, sick leave, holiday pay, and a 401(k) savings plan.

EEO Statement

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local anti‑discrimination laws.

Additional Information

For positions located in the United States of America, Skydio, Inc. uses E‑Verify to confirm employment eligibility. To learn more about E‑Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.