Vice President of Engineering
$200k - $275k USD
About Urban Sky:
Urban Sky is a venture-backed aerospace startup that pioneers utilization of the stratosphere and reimagines the way humans view and analyze the earth. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems, and the data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real-time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Our technology is also employed by government customers including the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and others. Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis.
Our team consists of engineers, makers, developers, and doers who believe in the power of human potential when passion meets utility within a small, supportive team. At Urban Sky we strive to create a team culture grounded in candor, inclusion, respect and empowerment.
We aim to build the next chapter of stratospheric history in Denver and are seeking self-starting, open-minded, and hard-working team members.
The Role
Urban Sky’s Vice President of Engineering will take over leadership of the company’s full engineering organization from the CTO, overseeing the Software Team, Firmware Team, Electrical Engineering Team, Mechanical Engineering Team, and Systems Engineering Integration and Test (SEIT) Team
This leader will be responsible for unifying these groups under a shared technical and cultural framework, fostering collaboration across hardware and software, and driving products from concept through production with a hands-on, iterative mindset.
You will report directly to the CTO, inheriting a deeply technical, highly motivated team that values autonomy, ownership, and rapid, spiral development. This is not a process-heavy or bureaucratic organization — this is an engineering culture of building, testing, learning, and improving, quickly and aggressively.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and unify Urban Sky’s multi-disciplinary engineering teams under one mission-focused organization.
- Drive product execution from concept through productionization, ensuring rapid iteration cycles that yield real, tested, working systems without design gridlock.
- Champion spiral development: Build–test–learn–repeat. Minimize paperwork and long analysis cycles; prioritize real-world experimentation and learning.
- Empower Responsible Engineers (REs): Maintain Urban Sky’s RE model, where individual engineers act as CEOs of their products, owning every decision from design through production. Provide resources, remove barriers, and ensure accountability without micromanagement.
- Foster technical excellence and practical innovation in both hardware and software domains, with a bias toward pragmatic, test-driven engineering.
- Partner with company leadership to align technical priorities with company vision and operational goals.
- Mentor and develop technical leaders across disciplines; build capacity for future growth without compromising agility.
- Ensure effective cross-functional collaboration between software, firmware, hardware, and systems teams to accelerate integration and testing.
- Maintain a culture of ownership, urgency, and accountability that matches Urban Sky’s aggressive pace and mission-driven focus.
Who You Are
- A hands-on technical leader who has successfully built and shipped complex hardware–software systems.
- Deep experience in both hardware and software development — and the scars to prove it.
- A believer in spiral development and rapid iteration, not bureaucratic gates. You know that the fastest way to learn is to build and test.
- A champion of engineer autonomy. You know how to lead by supporting, not controlling.
- Someone who thrives in ambiguity, takes ownership, and pushes relentlessly toward working results.
- A systems thinker with strong instincts for integration, testing, and design–build–test cycles.
- A builder of people and teams — you know how to align diverse disciplines and personalities around a common goal.
- A doer and decision-maker, not a theorist. You’ve taken projects across the finish line and know what it takes to deliver.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience leading engineering teams across hardware and software disciplines.
- Proven record of delivering complex integrated systems to production or flight.
- Experience scaling teams and processes in a rapidly evolving, high-velocity environment.
- Strong technical foundation in mechanical, electrical, firmware, or systems engineering — with working familiarity across domains.
- Experience in a fast-paced startup that makes hardware-software products
- Comfortable working in a hands-on, test-driven environment.
- Excellent communication and leadership skills — able to inspire technical teams and communicate clearly with executives.
Why Urban Sky
At Urban Sky, you’ll help shape the next frontier of aviation — not in theory, but in hardware, firmware, and software that’s flying today. You’ll lead a team of passionate, brilliant engineers building systems that operate in challenging environments where everything from component cost, to aviation safety in active class-A airspace matters.
Benefits:
- Medical, Vision and Dental
- Unlimited Vacation Days
- Parental Leave
- Cell Phone Bill Stipend
- Stock Options
Urban Sky is required to post this salary range per Colorado law. Your salary will be determined based on your abilities and experience.
Colorado Pay Transparency
$200,000—$275,000 USD
NOTE: Research suggests that women and BIPOC individuals may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes that they have the skills and the passion necessary to succeed here to apply for this role.
This position may require the candidate to deal with commodities, software, technology, defense articles, and/or technical data which are subject to the Export Administration Regulations and/or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Additional information may be requested so as to determine whether export authorization is required from the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. If authorization is required, employment will be contingent upon the Company successfully obtaining such authorization from the relevant government agency.
Urban Sky is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.