---
title: 'Manager, Software Engineering - Cloud infrastructure at Pyka'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manager-software-engineering-cloud-infrastructure-pyka-alameda-2r6ea6sm6zp9'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-04'
---

# Manager, Software Engineering - Cloud infrastructure at Pyka

- **Company:** Pyka
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-22
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/pyka/374590a5-498f-4257-ac5f-fe884d42ca6f

## Job description

## About Pyka

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation. To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems. We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes. Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in their respective industries. What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day.

## Role Overview

Pyka is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to be the software owner of our Dropship and Cargo programs. The software problems in these programs span the stack: path planning over long ranges, controls for a new airframe, integration of new sensors, engine control and state-of-charge management on a hybrid powertrain, and incorporating weather into how a mission is planned and flown. You will be responsible for the software behavior of these aircraft as a whole — what it needs to do, how the pieces fit together, and whether it is ready to fly — and you will be the engineer the Dropship team comes to when software is the open question on their side.

Some of the current and future projects you will likely contribute to include: Path planning for long-range cargo missions that accounts for energy state, winds aloft, and weather along the route Energy management on a hybrid powertrain: engine control, state-of-charge policy, and how the aircraft trades power against range, payload, and reserve Flight controls and handling for a new airframe, from simulation through flight test Integrating new sensors and payload systems, and defining the software needs before the hardware is fixed Turning operational feedback from cargo flights into requirements for the next iteration of the aircraft Defining what mission planning and ground tools need to expose to operators flying these aircraft

## Responsibilities

- Lead a team of engineers to deliver infrastructure and tooling projects end-to-end, from requirements definition to deployment and ongoing maintenance

- Own team and project roadmaps, balancing company priorities, operational needs, and long-term infrastructure improvements

- Own project execution, defining milestones and priorities, tracking progress, and adjusting as requirements evolve

- Own the infrastructure and practices for managing aircraft and engineering data

- Guide infrastructure decisions with attention to security, scalability, performance, and cost

- Hire, onboard, mentor, and support engineers through regular feedback and coaching

- Contribute technically when needed to guide architecture, review designs, debug complex issues, or unblock work

## Preferred Qualifications

- 6+ years of experience in software engineering, cloud infrastructure, platform engineering, or related roles

- Prior experience managing engineers, including coaching, setting priorities, and supporting individual development

- Experience designing, deploying, and operating production systems on Google Cloud, including Google Cloud Storage and BigQuery

- Strong technical foundation in Python, Linux systems, networking, databases, and modern software development workflows

- Experience with infrastructure as code (e.g. pulumi), CI/CD systems, containers, and deployment automation

- Familiarity with infrastructure supporting data analysis and machine learning workflows

- Experience improving system reliability through monitoring, incident response, and operational practices

- Experience with cloud security, access management, and cost management

- Strong technical judgment and the ability to make practical tradeoffs between immediate needs and long-term maintainability

- Experience working across teams to turn ambiguous engineering and operational needs into concrete plans

- Comfortable working in fast-moving and highly collaborative environments with evolving priorities

- Experience supporting robotics, autonomous systems, or other hardware-focused engineering teams is a plus

## Compensation & Benefits

- $180,000–$250,000 salary per year + equity. Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change.
- Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance
- FSA with employer matching
- 401(k)
- Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off
- Voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks

Export Control Requirements This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls.  Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items. Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.

-- We do not work with external recruiters; if you are an external recruiter, please do not reach out.

## About Pyka

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Pyka designs, develops, and manufactures autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: Alameda, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Michael Norcia (Co-Founder, CEO), Chuma Ogunwole (Co-Founder, COO), Nathan White (Co-Founder, Head of Flight Operations)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Autonomous electric aviation, aerospace, agriculture, defense & logistics
- Target customers: B2B, government (AFWERX, Department of Defense), agricultural service providers, commercial cargo operators
- Mission or purpose statement: To provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs.

## Products & Services
- **Pelican Spray**: A fully autonomous electric crop duster for aerial application, designed to make crop protection safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Certified for commercial operation in New Zealand, Costa Rica, and the US (FAA 44807 Authorization).
- **Pelican Cargo**: The world's largest zero-emission autonomous cargo UAS, designed for remote connectivity, express delivery, and shipping critical supplies. Delivered to AFWERX (US Air Force innovation arm) for contested logistics use cases.
- **Pelican 2**: Next-generation autonomous aircraft unveiled in February 2025, featuring significant design improvements and securing FAA authorization for commercial operation in the US.
- **Proprietary technology ecosystem**: Flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $95.12M (Series B of $40M raised in 2024/2025; Series A of $37M; Seed+ $8M; initial Y Combinator round $3M)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (S17 batch), EmbraerX (partnership for Brazil operations), AFWERX (US Department of Air Force), GO-Biz (California tax credit award), SLC Agrícola (major ag customer)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Secured world's first approval for autonomous night spray operations in Costa Rica
  - Receiving orders across four continents (Americas, Europe, etc.)
  - Delivered Pelican Cargo to AFWERX for exploration of contested logistics use cases
  - Awarded $7M California Tax Credit to expand manufacturing
  - Surpassed 75 employees (from 50+ milestone)
  - Signed first major US customer for Pelican Spray

## Competitive Advantages
- First-mover regulatory advantage: World’s first autonomous electric aircraft certified for commercial work (2019), first FAA 44807 authorization for commercial autonomous electric crop spraying in the US, and first approval for night autonomous spray operations.
- Dual-use technology platform serving both commercial (agriculture, logistics) and defense (AFWERX) markets.
- Vertically integrated technology stack (proprietary flight control, avionics, motors, batteries, and airframes) creating deep moats against competitors.
- Real-world operational deployment across multiple countries and continents, not just prototypes or test flights.
- Strong safety record with regulatory approvals from FAA, New Zealand CAA, and Costa Rican authorities.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling production of the Pelican 2 and Pelican Cargo aircraft lines
- Expanding into defense and dual-use applications (contested logistics for US Air Force)
- Growing commercial operations in agriculture with major customers like SLC Agrícola in Brazil
- Expanding global regulatory approvals to open new markets
- Building out manufacturing capacity with GO-Biz support in California
- Achieving economies of scale while maintaining vertical integration

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Pyka started in the founder's parents' garage with a "shoes optional" early culture, and retains a startup ethos focused on building game-changing products. Employees report working on things that make people's lives better now.
- **Engineering focus**: You'll work on cutting-edge autonomy, electric propulsion, and aerospace hardware/software. The tech stack spans flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and carbon-fiber composites.
- **Impact**: "What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day."
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Some roles are remote (e.g., Flight Support Engineer - Night Shift, Brazil remote), while engineering and manufacturing roles likely require presence at the Alameda/Oakland facilities.
- **Location**: Based in Alameda, CA (with manufacturing in Oakland), offering a Bay Area aerospace startup experience.
- **Stage**: Series B with ~75 employees—ideal for someone who wants to join a growth-stage company with proven product-market fit and clear regulatory path to scale.
- **Current open roles** (via Lever): Senior Account Executive (Brazil), Deployed Flight Test Engineer, Flight Demo & Training Specialist (Multiple Levels), Flight Support Engineer (Night Shift, Brazil remote).

## Sources
1. [flypyka.com](https://www.flypyka.com/about-us)
2. [flypyka.com/careers](https://flypyka.com/careers)
3. [jobs.lever.co/pyka](https://jobs.lever.co/pyka/)
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/pyka)
5. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pyka)

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