Product Design Engineer (All Levels)

What the role actually is

Skydio is hiring a product design engineer in San Mateo to develop the mechanical systems behind its autonomous drones, ground stations, and accessories. The work sits in R&D and runs from early architecture through prototyping, testing, vendor work, and production support.

This is physical product design rather than digital UX. It still belongs on the board because the role shapes the drone hardware that operators hold, deploy, inspect, and trust in the field.

What you would work on

• Design mechanical parts and assemblies for aircraft, ground stations, and accessories
• Integrate structures, mechanisms, antennas, cable harnesses, and custom electronics into drone hardware
• Define tests and use analysis to compare design tradeoffs
• Work with vendors, operations, supply chain, manufacturing, and factory teams
• Debug failures and carry designs from prototype into pre-production and mass production

What they are asking for

• Product development experience with mechanical systems
• Mechanical engineering fundamentals and strong analytical problem-solving skills
• Advanced 3D CAD experience, with CATIA preferred
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes such as injection molding, casting, CNC machining, sheet metal, or composites
• Comfort prototyping quickly while producing production-quality drawings and documentation

Why this one is worth a look

Skydio's autonomy is only useful if the aircraft and accessories survive field use. This role is a good fit for someone who wants product design work that is tactile, technical, and close to deployed drone systems instead of purely screen-based design.