Senior Flight Test Automation Lead

Skydio; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health insurance

Paid vacation time

Sick leave

Holiday pay

401K savings plan

Job summary

Skydio is seeking an experienced Software Automation Engineer to lead the Flight Test Automation Pod and scale validation for autonomous flight. You will design automated test systems spanning CI, simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and real-world flight, incorporating AI-supported workflows for test generation and analysis.

You will define test coverage metrics, reduce manual effort, and drive test strategy in collaboration with software, flight test, and reliability teams.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in software testing, automation or test infrastructure
• Track record of setting technical direction and driving adoption across teams
• Strong Python skills with maintainable test frameworks
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD systems and test integration
• Experience applying AI and agentic workflows to software testing
• Ability to define and measure test coverage across complex systems
• Proficiency with mobile and browser automation tools (Appium, Playwright, Selenium)
• FAA Part 107 certification within first 60 days of employment

Responsibilities

• Lead the Flight Test Automation Pod: set direction, own roadmap, mentor engineers
• Own automated test workflows across mobile, browser, and hardware/software systems
• Establish CI test pipelines for automatic validation of every build
• Design extensible test framework scalable across teams
• Apply AI-assisted workflows to test generation, failure triage, and flight log analysis
• Define test coverage metrics tied to requirements and risk
• Partner with software, flight test, and reliability leads to shape testing plans

Skills

Python

CI/CD

Automation testing

AI workflows

Test framework design

Test coverage

Tools

Appium

Playwright

Selenium

Job description

Skydio is seeking an experienced Software Automation Engineer to lead the Flight Test Automation Pod and scale validation for autonomous flight. You will design automated test systems spanning CI, simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and real-world flight, incorporating AI-supported workflows for test generation and analysis.

You will define test coverage metrics, reduce manual effort, and drive test strategy in collaboration with software, flight test, and reliability teams.