Head of Manufacturing Engineering Automation & Controls

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 .

About the Role:

We are seeking a Head of Manufacturing Engineering to lead the development and scale-up of our manufacturing systems for high-volume small unmanned aircraft production. This leader will own the manufacturing engineering organization responsible for translating product designs into robust, automated, production-ready manufacturing systems capable of operating reliably at scale.

A major focus of this role will be factory automation, controls engineering, equipment development, and manufacturing systems architecture. You will build and lead a multidisciplinary organization spanning manufacturing engineering, automation and controls, equipment engineering, process development, and production industrialization.

The ideal candidate has experience scaling complex electromechanical products from early production into high-rate manufacturing, with a strong understanding of how automation, controls, data, equipment design, and process engineering come together to create a world-class production system.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can establish the long-term manufacturing strategy while also driving execution on the factory floor.

How You’ll Make an Impact:

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Manufacturing Engineering organization supporting production from new product introduction through high-volume manufacturing.

• Define the manufacturing engineering strategy, technical roadmap, organizational structure, and capabilities required to support significant production growth.

• Partner closely with Design Engineering, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Test Engineering, and Product teams to ensure products are designed for manufacturability, automation, testability, and scale.

• Establish manufacturing standards, design reviews, equipment specifications, process qualification methodologies, and production-readiness criteria.

• Lead the architecture, development, deployment, and lifecycle management of automated manufacturing equipment and production systems.

• Build strong internal capabilities in controls engineering, PLC programming, industrial robotics, motion control, machine vision, industrial networking, sensors, servo systems, safety systems, and automated material handling.

• Establish controls and automation standards that enable equipment to be deployed, supported, replicated, and scaled rapidly across production.

• Develop strategies for balancing manual, semi-automated, and fully automated manufacturing based on production rate, process capability, economics, and product maturity.

• Establish disciplined equipment development processes including requirements definition, design reviews, FAT/SAT, commissioning, process validation, and production acceptance.

• Partner with external automation integrators and equipment suppliers while developing critical automation and controls capabilities internally.

• Build a highly instrumented manufacturing environment where equipment and processes generate actionable production data.

• Partner with software and data teams to connect manufacturing equipment with MES, traceability, quality, and factory data systems.

• Develop automated collection and analysis of process parameters, equipment states, cycle times, downtime, quality results, and genealogy.

• Use manufacturing data to identify process drift, predict failures, improve yield, and accelerate root-cause analysis.

What Makes You a Good Fit:

• 12+ years of experience in manufacturing engineering, automation engineering, controls engineering, equipment engineering, or related disciplines.

• 5+ years of experience leading engineering organizations responsible for manufacturing systems or factory automation.

• Demonstrated experience scaling complex electromechanical products into high-volume production.

• Experience in aerospace, automotive, robotics, industrial automation, electronics, battery, semiconductor, or another highly engineered manufacturing environment; aerospace experience strongly preferred.

• Deep understanding of manufacturing automation and controls, including several of the following:
• PLC and industrial controls architectures

• Robotics and robotic cells

• Servo and motion-control systems

• Machine vision

• Industrial networking and communications

• Sensors and instrumentation

• Automated test and inspection

• Machine safety systems

• SCADA/HMI systems

• Manufacturing equipment software

• Experience developing custom production equipment from concept through production deployment.

• Experience developing capital equipment strategies and managing significant CapEx programs.

• Strong understanding of DFM/DFA and the ability to influence product architecture to enable manufacturing scale and automation.

• Experience operating in environments requiring rigorous configuration management, traceability, process control, and quality systems.

• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and lead multidisciplinary technical organizations.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to move between factory-level strategy and detailed engineering problems.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related technical field.

• Obtaining FAA Part 107 certification within the first 60 days of employment is strongly encouraged for all Skydio employees and required for certain positions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience scaling aerospace or similarly complex hardware from low-rate initial production to hundreds or thousands of units per month.

• Experience building an automation and controls engineering function from the ground up.

• Experience designing manufacturing systems for products combining mechanical assemblies, electronics, motors, sensors, batteries, composites, or other complex electromechanical technologies.

• Familiarity with aerospace manufacturing and quality frameworks such as AS9100.

• Experience with MES, equipment connectivity, manufacturing data infrastructure, and Industry 4.0 architectures.

• Experience with automated inspection, machine vision, robotic assembly, dispensing, fastening, material handling, or automated test systems.

• Experience developing standardized automation platforms that can be replicated across multiple production lines or factories.

• Experience working in fast-growth hardware organizations where product design and manufacturing systems evolve simultaneously.

• Master's degree in an engineering discipline or equivalent technical experience.

…