Senior Manufacturing Test Engineer

San Mateo, California, United States - Full-time

Skydio is the leading US drone company and the world leader in autonomous flight, the key technology for the future of drones and aerial mobility. The Skydio team combines deep expertise in artificial intelligence, best-in-class hardware and software product development, operational excellence, and customer obsession to empower a broader, more diverse audience of drone users. From utility inspectors to first responders, soldiers in battlefield scenarios and beyond .

We are looking for a hands‑on technical engineer for our manufacturing team to help bridge manufacturing to engineering organizations. You will have a deep understanding of HW and SW design skills and use them daily to collect and analyze manufacturing data, drive action items based on data (yield, retest, test time) and improve efficiency of the line and quality of the final product.

Skydio builds complex flying robots and our goal is to ensure high quality and efficiency at our internal and external manufacturing sites. We have developed a robust software platform that models and tracks the manufacturing process, runs and tracks tests on the line, and ultimately ensures the quality and performance of each and every Skydio product made. Your team will design and build manufacturing test hardware and software to meet the demands of a growing hardware portfolio and customer base.

Take ownership of end‑to‑end manufacturing test readiness for an entire product line, ensuring that Skydio customers receive the highest‑quality devices.

Collaborate cross‑functionally with product development, manufacturing operations, and software teams to collect requirements and iteratively roll out a robust test sequence based on data and feedback.

Design and implement new test equipment (in‑house or with third‑party partners) to ensure scalable and reliable manufacturing via automation.

Lead investigations to resolve production issues, leveraging Skydio's in‑house manufacturing execution system (MES) to analyze historical data from the factory and determine a root cause.

Develop and maintain test and process automation software within Skydio’s Python‑based Vehicle Testing framework.

Keep software quality high with code reviews and hardware‑in‑loop continuous integration.

Play a leadership role in New Product Introduction (NPI) with future opportunities to grow into leading a team.

Look at a process and ask, "How can this be eliminated or made faster, more reliable, scalable, and less human‑dependent?" - and then make that happen.

5+ years engineering experience in a manufacturing environment, with 3+ years focused on test development. You know first hand what it takes to reliably build a product, and you have some war stories to tell of problems you solved.

Strong hands‑on coding experience in Python (required) for test automation and process tooling.

Solid background in electromechanical design and development of automated test equipment. If you’ve designed a custom circuit board for an Arduino and then programmed it, we want to hear from you!

Demonstrated ability to conduct detailed root cause and failure analysis for test and equipment issues. Come to the interview ready to tell us about a tricky problem you investigated and solved.

Creative problem‑solver with a passion for developing practical solutions.

Excellent communication, organizational, and collaboration skills across hardware, software, and operations teams.

Thrive in a fast‑paced, growth‑stage environment, balancing immediate execution with long‑term scalability.

You get pumped watching How It's Made or playing Factorio and want to get paid to work on the machine that builds the machines.

At Skydio, our compensation packages for regular, full‑time employees include competitive base salaries, equity in the form of stock options, and comprehensive benefits packages. Compensation will vary based on factors, including skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience. Relocation assistance may also be provided for eligible roles. The annual base salary range for this position…