Staff Reliability Engineer – UAV & Autonomous Flight

Skyways; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

401k

Job summary

Skyways, based in Austin, designs and operates autonomous cargo aircraft and is hiring a Staff Reliability Engineer to lead the reliability program for V2 and V3 fleets. You will set reliability strategy and perform hands-on root-cause investigations across avionics, software, and propulsion while coordinating with Flight Test, Systems Engineering, and Manufacturing.

You will analyze flight data and logs to identify failure modes, run FMEA and fault-tree analyses, and drive corrective actions to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering, or a related engineering field.
• 10+ years of engineering experience, including 5+ years of hands on reliability work on UAV or aviation programs.
• Evidence of improving reliability on UAV/aviation programs (lower failure rates, higher MTBF, better fleet availability).
• Experience building or driving a reliability program with FRACAS.
• Broad, hands-on troubleshooting across software, electrical, mechanical, and controls; ability to find root cause and implement fixes.
• Knowledge of reliability methods (FMEA, fault tree analysis, 8D, Weibull analysis, reliability growth).
• Proficiency with Python, SQL, or similar tools for flight data analysis.
• Clear technical writing and communication with engineers and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Build and own the reliability program end to end: failure reporting, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and fleet metrics.
• Lead hands-on investigations into aircraft failures across avionics, software, power and propulsion, structures, and flight controls.
• Troubleshoot problems and develop fixes, partnering with design engineers for landings in their systems.
• Analyze flight logs, telemetry, maintenance data to identify recurring failure modes and rank by fleet impact.
• Run FMEA and fault tree analysis on V3-critical systems and translate findings into design changes.
• Set inspection intervals and life limits, updating them with fleet hours.
• Drive corrective actions through design, manufacturing, and flight operations to permanent closure.
• Report fleet reliability trends to engineering and leadership.

Skills

Reliability engineering

Root cause analysis

FRACAS

FMEA

8D problem solving

Python

SQL

Technical writing

Education

Bachelors or Masters in Aerospace/Mechanical/Electrical/Systems Engineering

Tools

ArduPilot

PX4

MAVLink

Job description

Skyways, based in Austin, designs and operates autonomous cargo aircraft and is hiring a Staff Reliability Engineer to lead the reliability program for V2 and V3 fleets. You will set reliability strategy and perform hands-on root-cause investigations across avionics, software, and propulsion while coordinating with Flight Test, Systems Engineering, and Manufacturing.

You will analyze flight data and logs to identify failure modes, run FMEA and fault-tree analyses, and drive corrective actions to