Product Design Engineer (Early Career)

The role

You will architect, develop, and refine structures, mechanisms, and solutions for autonomous flight. This includes designing mechanical parts and assemblies for aircraft, ground stations, and accessories.

What you will do

• Design mechanical parts and assemblies for aircraft, ground stations, and accessories.
• Partner with electrical engineers to integrate PCBAs, flex circuits, antennas, and cable harnesses.
• Work with vendors on technical questions and part reviews.
• Plan and run engineering tests and use analysis to evaluate design trade-offs.
• Follow designs through the full development cycle from prototypes to mass production.
• Help manufacturing teams with assembly processes and quality and inspection criteria.
• Investigate and debug failures to find root causes.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.
• 0-3 years of hands-on product or hardware experience through internships, co-ops, student design teams, research, or personal projects.
• Strong engineering fundamentals.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD (CATIA, SolidWorks, NX, Creo, or similar).
• Familiarity with common manufacturing processes such as injection molding, CNC machining, casting, or sheet metal.
• Ability to create clear mechanical drawings, or eagerness to build this skill with mentorship.
• Curiosity, attention to detail, and a love of well-designed hardware.
• Collaborative mindset and comfort working in a fast-paced environment.

Nice to have

• Experience with CATIA specifically.
• Exposure to GD&T, tolerance analysis, or FEA.
• Experience with composites or electromechanical systems (drones, consumer electronics, robotics, etc.).
• Experience rapidly prototyping with 3D printing, machine shop tools, or similar.
• Obtaining FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days of employment is strongly encouraged.

Benefits

• Mentorship from experienced mechanical engineers.
• Hands-on exposure to the whole hardware lifecycle.
• Growing scope of ownership.
• Equity in the form of stock options.
• Group health insurance plans.
• Paid vacation time.
• Sick leave.
• Holiday pay.
• 401K savings plan.
• Relocation assistance may be provided for eligible roles.

About the company

Skydio is the leading US drone company and the world leader in autonomous flight. The team combines expertise in artificial intelligence, hardware and software product development, operational excellence, and customer obsession.