Director of Software (Austin)

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

As Director of Software, you will own software execution end to end across autonomy, mission planning (SkyNav), and the internal tooling that supports flight operations and production aircraft. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who wants to write code, lead teams, and take direct responsibility for systems that fly.

You will work closely with flight, hardware, and operations to turn real world constraints and operator feedback into software that works in the field.

What You’ll Do

• Own software execution across autonomy, SkyNav, and internal tools that support aircraft flying today.
• Success in this role is measured by the team’s ability to reliably ship production features, support live deployments, and scale delivery as the company grows.
• Act as a player‑coach. You will write code, review code, and take on hard problems when needed. Work directly with operators and customers to iterate based on live deployments and field feedback.
• Set technical direction through shipped systems and measurable outcomes.
• Partner tightly with hardware, flight, and manufacturing to ensure software and aircraft evolve together.
• Improve reliability, performance, and maintainability as the fleet and customer base scale.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven experience shipping and supporting complex production software systems.
• Experience with autonomy, robotics, or mission planning systems.
• Experience leading software teams while staying close to the technical work.
• Strong systems thinking across autonomy, frontend, backend, and infrastructure.
• Comfort operating in environments where software meets hardware and real world constraints.
• Bias toward execution, ownership, and accountability.
• Hands‑on experience building with Python, C++, and Javascript.

Bonus Points

• Experience supporting software on production hardware, flight systems, or safety‑critical systems.
• Startup experience scaling teams and systems while things are still evolving.
• Hands‑on experience building with ROS, ElectronJS, Ardupilot, or Mavlink.

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.