S

Skydio

Builds autonomous drones for work in dangerous places

Software Engineer Intern

Summer 2027
$47 - $58/hr
Internship
San Mateo, CA, USA
Hybrid
Software EngineeringBackend Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • Have solid computer science fundamentals.
  • Have meaningful project and/or internship experience developing complex web applications or backend data systems.
  • Be proficient with one or more of C/C++, Python, Golang, and/or JavaScript/TypeScript.
  • Have familiarity with RESTful APIs, Linux operating system configuration, build tools, relational databases such as Postgres or MySQL, and caching systems such as Redis or Memcached.
  • Understand cloud service offerings such as AWS, GCP, or Azure, deployment techniques, and configuration management.
Responsibilities
  • Help build and scale cloud systems.
  • Tackle scalability and deployment in cloud and air-gapped environments.
  • Design and improve core cloud infrastructure and CI/CD systems.
  • Enhance telemetry, observability, and developer productivity.
  • Build a system that allows product teams to manage feature flags and rollouts of functionality to customers.
  • Profile server and backend system workloads and optimize performance or resource utilization.
  • Develop a test framework that allows developers to simulate vehicle states and test application behavior.
  • Develop and package a small form factor Skydio cloud offering for air-gapped or edge environments.

About the company

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Skydio

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Skydio builds autonomous drones for public safety agencies, utilities and military teams that need images and information from dangerous or hard-to-reach places. Its flying robots span outdoor inspection, indoor reconnaissance and longer-range response missions, with visual and thermal cameras to capture conditions on the ground. Operators use its Command software to plan missions, launch aircraft from remote docks and turn repeated flights into inspection records or live views of emergencies. Skydio sells the aircraft, software subscriptions and support services to organizations directly and through resellers. Founded in 2014, it is headquartered in San Mateo, California, United States.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Series F

Total Funding

$851M

Headquarters

San Mateo, California

Founded

2014

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Commercial adoption is tangible: Skydio reported 1,070 deployed drone Docks across three countries in July 2026.
  • Sales support a substantial business: Skydio reports nine figures of annual revenue and over 60,000 drones delivered.
  • Factory leadership receives equity: Skydio's Hayward nightshift supervisor posting lists stock options and $113,750 to $146,250 base salary.

What critics are saying

  • Remote operations require regulatory work: Skydio sells waiver support because advanced flights need FAA approvals and documented programs.
  • Cloud failures disrupt missions: Skydio's May 2026 connectivity incident prevented some customers from flying successfully.
  • Factory leadership works late: Skydio's Hayward nightshift supervisor role runs from 3 PM to midnight.

What makes Skydio unique

  • Domestic production is central: Skydio designs, assembles and supports its drones in the United States.
  • Night flight is built in: Skydio's NightSense uses active illumination for autonomous navigation in darkness.
  • Its ecosystem passes federal vetting: Skydio's X10, X10D, Dock and R10 all hold Blue UAS clearance.

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Benefits

  • Child Care & Parental Leave - Family Medical Leave, Flexible Work Schedule, Generous Parental Leave
  • Health & Wellness Benefits - Dental Benefits, Disability Insurance, Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Health Insurance Benefits, Life Insurance, Onsite Gym, Vision Benefits, Wellness Programs, Mental Health Benefits
  • Home Office Stipend for Remote Employees
  • 401(K)
  • Generous PTO, Paid Holidays, Paid Sick Days

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

1%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

0%
Interesting Engineering
Oct 16th, 2026
Drone integrates tactical radios.

Drone integrates tactical radios. The companies have integrated L3Harris' Falcon IV embeddable radios and Wraith waveform into Skydio's X10D drone. The combination provides layered protection against jamming and adds electronic warfare capabilities to the aircraft. Radio integration gives the drone access to communications technology designed for military operations. Maintaining command-and-control links matters when troops rely on aerial sensors to gather information beyond their immediate positions. Electronic interference can disrupt the connection between operators and unmanned aircraft. Losing that link can complicate flight control and limit the delivery of useful battlefield information. L3Harris and Skydio aim to reduce that vulnerability through their integrated system. The setup is designed to help warfighters continue flying drones and communicating in environments where electronic warfare threatens those functions.

DroneXL
Oct 15th, 2026
Skydio says ISR Command can send X10D target grids to F-16s.

Skydio says ISR Command can send X10D target grids to F-16s. DroneXL may earn a commission when you buy through links on its site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. An operator runs Skydio ISR Command on the Skydio Controller, with the mission map on the left and the X10D's live feed on the right. Photo credit: Skydio Skydio launched ISR Command on October 13, software that lets one soldier fly two X10D drones from a single controller and share target tracks across the Army's tactical networks. Skydio says it also lets the X10D pass target locations to platforms ranging from one-way attack drones to F-16s. The company announced it the same day it livestreamed from the Association of the U.S. Army's AUSA 2026 meeting in Washington, and says it is available now. Neither the launch post nor the product page listed a price as of October 14. CEO Adam Bry wrote on X the next day that the launch was a big step toward one of two national security objectives he set out for Skydio. He also wrote that ISR Command "breaks the 1:1 pilot:drone ratio to enable scalable 1:many operations." Skydio's own launch post puts the number at two aircraft per operator. Skydio's documents describe one operator, two drones and a battery relay. Skydio's launch post and product page describe one multi-drone workflow step by step: a two-aircraft relay. When the first X10D runs low on battery, ISR Command tells the operator to ready a second one. That drone flies itself out and takes over once both aircraft see the target. The operator confirms the handoff with one tap on the same controller, and the first X10D flies home. Skydio's launch post sums it up as "One controller. Two aircraft. Continuous eyes on the objective." The ISR Command product page says autonomy lets each operator fly more aircraft but gives no number. Both pages say ISR Command orchestrates fleets of X10Ds, and as of October 14 neither describes one operator flying more than two. The rest of the workflow is built to take work off that soldier. Objectives arrive as TAK markers before the drone is powered on, so the operator can review terrain and assign each aircraft a role without spending battery. The X10D launches in under 40 seconds and navigates with its onboard cameras when GNSS is jammed or spoofed. Subject tracking then locks onto a vehicle or a person, and the clip on Bry's post shows an X10D following a vehicle down a dirt road with a feature Skydio calls Shadow. The Army has named a related bottleneck. Col. Gregory Merkl, the Army's Drone Dominance director, said in September that hardware is no longer the gap between the Army and squad-level drone warfare and that trained pilots are, as DroneXL reported at the time. ISR Command shows two aircraft, Alpha and Bravo, on the same objective. Image credit: Skydio Skydio says ISR Command lets the X10D pass target locations to strike platforms. ISR Command embeds the X10D's target location in live video, using MISB ST 0601 (STANAG 4609) for static targets and MISB ST 0903 for moving ones. Skydio says that makes the 4.72-pound (2.14 kg) X10D the smallest UAS on the market capable of delivering precise target locations to strike platforms. Once a target is confirmed, the operator passes the grid and the camera stays on the target for battle damage assessment. The product page puts terrain-corrected crosshair coordinates on live video out to 3.1 miles (5 km). The software is TAK-native and runs on the Skydio Controller, so markers and chat sync with other TAK users without a second device. Skydio also says it shares tracks with the Army's Next Generation Command and Control system, NGC2. In June the Army picked Anduril to lead the NGC2 common data layer baseline on Anduril's Lattice and Palantir's Foundry, Breaking Defense reported. Skydio's AUSA livestream listing promised one operator managing multiple aircraft while sharing data across TAK and Lattice. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll told senators in May that Ukraine's Delta puts every drone and shooting platform on one network and that the Army's does not, as DroneXL reported in August. I read Skydio's TAK, NGC2 and Lattice language as a pitch aimed at that gap, and Army testing will show how much of it the software closes. The X10D is the drone the Army ordered more than 2,500 of in March, in a $52 million-plus order Skydio called the largest single-vendor tactical sUAS order in Army history. Bry described the X10D then as a "hunter" that finds targets for one-way attack munitions. ISR Command is the fourth product in Skydio's Command software line, after DFR Command and the Asset and Security Commands it launched at Ascend on September 23, where it also unveiled the F10 Lightrunner. DroneXL's take. I think ISR Command is a useful product for the Army, and Skydio's launch post is plain about what it does: it names one-way attack drones and F-16s as the receivers of the X10D's target data. A small drone that holds a target and puts a precise grid on it is half of any strike, and I'd rather American units get that from an American drone. Skydio's principles page is less plain. Its Engagement and Responsible Use Principles, dated July 13, 2020, are still on its website as of October 14 and still say "We will not put weapons on our drones," alongside a pledge to oppose fully autonomous lethal weapons. Nothing in the ISR Command materials puts a weapon on the X10D, though Army soldiers dropped live grenades from one in 2025 tests. In June Bry told The Verge he had gotten some things wrong on weapons. A company that markets its drone as the targeting half of a strike, with a CEO who says he got that question wrong, should update a 2020 page that still says it will not put weapons on its drones. DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read its editorial standards. Editor-in-Chief Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and of EVXL.co, for all electric vehicle news. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo. Also on LinkedIn, Muck Rack, Instagram and YouTube. DroneXL reports under its editorial standards. Spotted an error? Read the corrections policy. How DroneXL uses automated tools.

The Business Journals
Sep 28th, 2026
Skydio's Bay Area drone factory is growing fast, but hunt for a larger site is on.

Skydio's Bay Area drone factory is growing fast, but hunt for a larger site is on. By Jeremy C. Owens - Editor-in-Chief, San Francisco Business Times Sep 28, 2026 Preview this article 1 min After doubling its space and manufacturing workforce, the company is looking for a larger facility to make its high-tech devices. Don't Stop Here - Continue Reading For $1 Per Week Secure 4 weeks of award-winning news and trusted insights Subscribe for only $4 Thursday, October 01, 2026 Intersect 2026: AI & the Built Environment AI is transforming the built environment. Join Northern California's top innovators at Intersect 2026 to explore what's next.

DroneXL
Sep 25th, 2026
FCC says $5B flowed into US drones. Its own filing counts pledges.

FCC says $5B flowed into US drones. Its own filing counts pledges. DroneXL may earn a commission when you buy through links on its site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr takes questions on stage at the SBA Defense Industrial Base Drone Summit on September 24, 2026. Photo credit: FCC FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told the Small Business Administration's Defense Industrial Base Drone Summit on Thursday that President Trump's policies have put "billions of dollars now flowing into production plants here in America." About an hour later, the FCC's official account posted a clip of Carr under a headline claiming $5 billion in new U.S. drone investment. The figure is the FCC's scoreboard for its December 22, 2025 decision to put every foreign-made drone and drone component on the Covered List, which blocks new models from FCC authorization. It is also the economic argument behind the agency's next move: a proposed sales ban on foreign drones carrying thermal cameras, LiDAR or docking stations. On July 21, an FCC fact sheet put the total at over $4 billion. The itemized list the agency published with its July drone proposal counts a five-year pledge as its single largest entry. Carr on stage beneath the Small Business Administration seal at the Defense Industrial Base Drone Summit, September 24, 2026. Photo credit: FCC FCC footnotes mix venture rounds, A valuation and five-year pledges. The FCC's own list of investments sits in two footnotes of FCC Public Notice DA 26-758. One covers money raised since December. The other covers money only committed, and its anchor is Skydio's $3.5 billion plan, spread across five years and announced in April. The raised column cites Zipline's $600 million round alongside a Reuters story on Zipline's $7.6 billion valuation (a valuation is what investors think a company is worth; it builds nothing). It also lists Swarm Aero's Series A and Portuguese drone maker Tekever opening its first U.S. office. A third footnote adds Red Cat's upsized equity offering and PDW's $110 million Series B. Some of it is steel and payroll. The footnotes point to BRINC's new Seattle factory and an Anduril plant that started building high-speed combat drones in March. Motor startup Westmag, which DroneXL covered when it raised $11 million to build drone motors in South San Francisco, reported committed orders for hundreds of thousands of units, a component class the Covered List now bars from new foreign authorizations. The committed column is softer. Skydio's own announcement describes $3.5 billion to be invested over the next five years, with a new plant five times its current space and more than 2,000 jobs. It landed one day after the company closed a $110 million Series F at a $4.4 billion valuation. The same footnote counts a Denton, Texas city council vote on an $870,000 factory incentive and Quantum Cyber's letter of intent to buy a 43,000-square-foot building. The FCC repeated the $5 billion figure on X Thursday, but Carr has been saying it since at least August 4, when he used the figure on the TBPN podcast. That was two weeks after the FCC's written fact sheet, quoted by Military.com, said over $4 billion. The investment number is The FCC's case for banning thermal drones. In DA 26-758, the FCC's bureaus tentatively conclude that banning sales of foreign thermal, LiDAR, docking and heavy-lift drones would "similarly generate substantial investment in domestic production." That projected investment is weighed as a public benefit against the cost to operators, which the notice calls minor. The operators disagreed. Comments in PS Docket 26-189 closed September 2, and Pilot Institute's count of the record (Pilot Institute is a DroneXL partner) found 3,770 filings against the proposal and 16 for it, with 298 from public safety agencies. DJI's own filing, signed by former Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, argues the seven "military-grade" categories were invented inside the FCC and endorsed by no security agency. The proposal, which I covered on July 22, has not been adopted, and the FCC turned down requests to extend its comment window. The squeeze is arriving from other directions anyway. Section 232 tariffs of 25% on imported drones up to 25 kilograms (55 pounds), and 100% on thermal-equipped and heavier aircraft, took effect September 3. On October 13, the FCC stops authorizing new U.S.-built drones that contain DJI or Autel logic-bearing chips. And Thursday's host, the SBA, made drones a priority sector for 90% loan guarantees when it and the Department of War created the Smaller War Plants Commission on August 25. DroneXL's take. I want American drone factories. Skydio's plant, BRINC's Seattle move and Westmag's motor line are good news. What I don't accept is the FCC grading its own ban with a number that blends a Zipline valuation, a city council vote and a five-year promise, then citing that grade as the reason to pull thermal drones off the shelf for fire departments and search teams. I filed DroneXL's comment in Docket 26-189 on September 2, alongside thousands of pilots, agencies and service providers who made the same case. Investment pledges don't find a missing hiker at 2 a.m. A thermal drone does. Until the FCC publishes the tally behind $5 billion and can point to American thermal aircraft a county sheriff can actually buy at a price the budget covers, that number is a talking point, and it should carry no weight in Docket 26-189. DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read its editorial standards. Editor-in-Chief Haye Kesteloo is the Editor in Chief and Founder of DroneXL.co, where he covers all drone-related news, DJI rumors and writes drone reviews, and of EVXL.co, for all electric vehicle news. Haye can be reached at haye @ dronexl.co or @hayekesteloo. Also on LinkedIn, Muck Rack, Instagram and YouTube. DroneXL reports under its editorial standards. Spotted an error? Read the corrections policy. How DroneXL uses automated tools.

Drone Firms
Sep 25th, 2026
Skydio launches F10 Lightrunner fixed-wing UAV and autonomous MegaDock fleet system.

Skydio launches F10 Lightrunner fixed-wing UAV and autonomous MegaDock fleet system. Skydio has unveiled the F10 Lightrunner, its first fixed-wing aircraft, along with the MegaDock, Controller 2, and two new software platforms, Asset Command and Security Command, at its Ascend 2026 event. The F10 is designed for emergency response, search and rescue, and asset inspection missions measured in miles, and will deploy to customers in 2027. The F10 launches in seconds, flies at speeds up to 100 mph, and features the SideEye design that moves the camera off-center outside the rotor plane, keeping the wing out of view so a subject stays in steady view through every maneuver. It uses a Robotic Takeoff and Landing system with a suction-based robotic gripper that launches and catches the aircraft on its own. The MegaDock will house up to five F10s so a team can serve concurrent missions, and a single MegaDock with F10's 30-mile flight radius puts nearly 3,000 square miles within reach of one launch location. Skydio stated: "Twelve years ago, we started Skydio on a bet: build the skills of an expert pilot into the drone so it could fly itself. X10 and R10 proved it indoors and out. F10 proves it works at highway speed and county-line distance." The F10 is built for real-world conditions, with autonomous launch and landing in significant wind, flight day or night and in moderate rain, an integrated parachute, and Connect Fusion+ combining multiple cellular connections for resilient command, control, and live video. Pathfinder plans the route before launch, accounting for terrain, structures, agency boundaries, geofences, and airspace restrictions, while Foresight adapts the flight path in real time. Skydio also introduced Controller 2 with a 7-inch display, 5.5-hour runtime, and IP55 rating, plus a redesigned Cockpit with automated on-station relief. Asset Command imports asset inventories from GIS or CMMS systems and determines the right action for each asset, while Security Command dispatches drones with live video in seconds to verify alarms. Both are available to purchase now, with general availability early next year.