Manufacturing Software Engineer Intern - Winter 2027

About the role:

At Skydio, we're dedicated to building intelligent flying robots, combining innovative design with cutting-edge technology. Our mission is to make the world more productive, creative, and safe with autonomous flight. We have a deep belief in the transformative power of drones, and our enterprise focus is already making an impact in a wide range of industries across the world.

What makes Skydio different?

• Our drones have the best path-planning and obstacle avoidance thanks to over a decade of R&D in advanced autonomy algorithms.

• We build all parts of the software stack in-house, including embedded systems, middleware, autonomy, cloud infrastructure, manufacturing infrastructure, and automation.

• We design our own hardware to be tightly integrated with our software for maximum performance per gram / per watt.

• We are a U.S. company and manufacture our drones at our factory in California.

As an intern on the Manufacturing Software team, you'll be a core contributor, helping us manufacture high-quality drones, docks and accessories at scale to meet growing customer demands, turning prototypes into finished products. The processes and tools you build will have a significant impact on the company's scale and success.

This team is highly cross-functional. It sits at the intersection of backend (Python + Flask), embedded software (C++/C), frontend (React + Typescript), and electrical engineering (Robotics and Hardware Fixtures).

If you have strong coding fundamentals, thrive on solving and debugging cross-functional challenges, and are passionate about hardware-software systems, this could be a uniquely rewarding opportunity for learning and professional growth.

Our tech:

• Python + Flask backend + on-machine, Protobufs for IPC and RPC

• React + Typescript frontend

• On-premises containerized Linux client machines and servers, AWS backend cloud

• Hardware-in-the-Loop validation systems

• In-house framework for manufacturing and testing operations

Team Project Examples:

• Build and maintain a Hardware-in-the-Loop system for continuous testing of the hardware and software components of our drones and build systems.

• Design a deployment system for sending code physical machines all over the globe, inside of challenging and hostile networks, with redundant safety systems.

• Build a visual configuration tool for documenting and changing how mass production processes work and change on the fly.

• Develop our robot calibration process that can distinguish between hardware and software failures and suggest next steps for assembly rework.

• Create a dashboard that visualizes the state of the factory to help engineers debug faster.

• Develop an automated test fixture that assesses sensors and actuators to minimize operator interaction.

How you'll make an impact:

• Develop an AI-powered triage system that can inspect drone hardware and suggest which parts need to be repaired. Build a framework that combines LLM agents with our manufacturing API in a loop to test the hardware, and compare results against a growing library of root cause failures and suggested reworks.

What makes you a good fit:

• You love having fun building great products and enjoy working on systems that involve both hardware and software

• You are very comfortable with Python and have strong coding fundamentals.

• You’re a patient troubleshooter, comfortable asking for help when you need it, and giving help whenever you can.

• You get excited by How It's Made or Factorio and want to get paid to work on the machine that builds the machines.

Compensation Range: The hourly pay for this position is $47/hr*. Compensation will vary based on factors, including skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience. In addition to base salary, Skydio full-time employees are eligible to enroll in our benefit plans and take advantage of a variety of incentives and stipends.

*For some positions the pay may be dependent upon the individual's regional location.

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