Senior Hardware Design Lead, Autonomous Drone Systems

Socket.dev; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 230,000 - 325,000; Full time

Job summary

Skydio seeks a senior mechanical/ aerospace engineer to lead the development of a cutting-edge vehicle platform for autonomous flight. You will head the mechanical team, guiding the winged vehicle and ground systems from concept through production in a highly collaborative setting.

Applicants bring deep system-level design skills, strong leadership, and hands-on CATIA CAD experience. Expect cross-functional teamwork across product, electrical, software, and manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Strong system-level design skills and ability to map dependencies.
• Proven leadership in technically challenging product development.
• Experience in aerospace or aviation design.
• Analytical problem solving with fundamentals.
• 3D CAD expertise, especially CATIA.
• Experience with manufacturing processes and integral prototyping.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of a vehicle platform from concept to production.
• Oversee mechanical development of winged vehicle and ground systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive product development.
• Define and execute engineering tests and analyze results.
• Interface with vendors and manage production-ready designs.
• Debug failures and determine root causes.

Skills

Technical leadership

3D CAD

Systems engineering

Mechanical design

Prototyping

DFM

Electromechanical design

Tools

CATIA

Job description

Skydio seeks a senior mechanical/ aerospace engineer to lead the development of a cutting-edge vehicle platform for autonomous flight. You will head the mechanical team, guiding the winged vehicle and ground systems from concept through production in a highly collaborative setting.

Applicants bring deep system-level design skills, strong leadership, and hands-on CATIA CAD experience. Expect cross-functional teamwork across product, electrical, software, and manufacturing.