Senior Autonomy Engineer - Controls

About the role

At Skydio, controls algorithms onboard autonomous drones create stable, smooth flight and gimbal motion, helping pilots execute objectives such as inspection, mapping, missions, and security use cases. You will contribute to core motion planning software, from low-level stabilization and control to high-level task-specific frameworks, with a particular focus on low-level controls.

Responsibilities

• Develop, tune, and evaluate low-level controllers and trajectory optimization.
• Work across the software system to define the data and interfaces needed for successful control.
• Work with the UX team to explore and define planning and UI boundaries for new interaction paradigms.

Requirements

• Industry or research experience writing software that controls real hardware, such as a robotic arm, self-driving cars, aerial robots, or mobile robots.
• Knowledge of modern and classical control design methods.
• High proficiency in C++.
• Knowledge of dynamic programming and nonlinear optimization.
• A solid software engineering foundation and commitment to clean, well-architected code.
• Obtaining FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days of employment is strongly encouraged for all Skydio employees and required for certain positions.

Key facts

• The role focuses on low-level controls for autonomous drones.
• Requires high proficiency in C++.
• Includes developing, tuning, and evaluating low-level controllers and trajectory optimization.
• FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days is strongly encouraged for all Skydio employees and required for certain positions.