At Skyways, we are building the future of air transportation with fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Backed by significant funding, including a $37M STRATFI contract from the U.S. Air Force, we operate at the intersection of commercial and defense markets. We have designed, built, and flown aircraft with real customers and government partners, and are now entering the next phase of the company: scaling toward production.
Based in Austin, TX and supported by top investors including Y Combinator, Skyways blends rapid iteration with real world deployment. We design, test, and operate our systems in the field, then bring those learnings directly back into engineering and product decisions. As we grow, we are looking for builders and leaders who want real ownership, technical depth, and the opportunity to help take an aircraft from successful deployments to full production.
The Opportunity
This internship offers hands-on exposure to real systems engineering work on an autonomous aircraft program moving toward production. You’ll own scoped, project-based work focused on reliability, testing, and scalability, with direct mentorship from experienced engineers. Your contributions will ship internally and influence how Skyways tests, documents, and scales its aircraft.
What You'll Do:
Own and execute project-based systems engineering work with clear deliverables and timelines
Support ground testing efforts, including HIL and subscale integration testing
Design and build robust, repeatable test cases and test harnesses
Contribute to systems and test documentation used across engineering and manufacturing
Analyze subsystem behavior and support root cause and fault tree analysis
Collaborate cross-functionally with systems, electrical, software, and manufacturing teams
Communicate data-driven findings clearly and concisely to technical stakeholders
What You'll Bring:
Pursuing a B.S. or M.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical or Systems Engineering
Strong engineering fundamentals and comfort working across hardware and software boundaries
Experience with test setups, lab environments, or hands-on engineering projects
Ability to break down ambiguous problems into structured, testable work
Clear written and verbal communication skills
Curiosity, ownership, and a bias toward building things that actually work
Bonus Points:
Experience with HIL, SIL, or integration testing
Familiarity with avionics, embedded systems, or hardware-in-the-loop test rigs
Exposure to fault tree analysis, RCCA, or reliability engineering
Comfort scripting or building small tools to support testing or analysisInterest in aviation, autonomy, or safety-critical systems
Want to join our mission? Apply to learn more!
Due to U.S. government contract requirements, this role is limited to U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or candidates from specific countries authorized under applicable export control regulations.
Skyways is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other factor protected by applicable local, state or federal laws.
