Flight Test Engineer

Certo Aerospace Ltd; Frome; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

9-day fortnight

UK & international travel

Influence aircraft development

Job summary

Certo Aerospace is seeking Flight Test Engineers to join a small, collaborative engineering team developing a heavy-lift rotary-wing UAV platform. The role covers planning, executing and documenting flight tests, with UK and overseas testing and close cooperation with design and workshop staff.

We value strong practical engineering capability and attitude, with opportunities for both early-career and experienced engineers to contribute to flight safety, regulatory documentation, and continued

Qualifications

• Experience or familiarity with rotary-wing aviation environments.
• Understanding of test planning, data capture and analysis.
• Regulatory awareness related to aviation testing is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Plan and coordinate ground and flight test programmes.
• Conduct aircraft ground and flight testing across the UK and overseas.
• Produce flight test plans and technical documentation.
• Develop new test methods, rigs and equipment.
• Capture and analyse flight test data and produce reports.
• Create and maintain risk assessments and regulatory compliance.
• Support NOTAMs and permissions as well as SORA/CAA requirements.
• Collaborate with Design Engineers and Workshop Technicians to prepare aircraft for testing.

Skills

Rotary-wing aviation

Helicopters

UAVs/UAS

Experimental aircraft

Defence programmes

Aircraft maintenance

Systems test/validation

Job description

Rotary Wing UAVs | Heavy Lift Aircraft | Defence & Aerospace

Help shape the future of heavy-lift autonomous aviation.

Most Flight Test roles involve following somebody else's procedures. This isn't one of them.

Certo Aerospace is developing one of the UK's most capable heavy-lift rotary-wing UAV platforms, designed to transport meaningful payloads over long distances in some of the world's most demanding environments.

From mechanical design and aircraft integration through to flight testing and operational deployment, everything is developed in-house by a small, highly collaborative engineering team.

As Certo continues to grow, we're looking for Flight Test Engineers at multiple levels to help build and expand our flight test capability.

Whether you're early in your career with strong practical engineering skills or an experienced Flight Test Engineer with regulatory and safety experience, we'd love to hear from you.

The Role

This is a varied role combining practical engineering, flight operations and technical planning.

You'll be involved throughout the entire testing lifecycle, including:

• Planning and coordinating ground and flight test programmes
• Conducting aircraft ground and flight testing across the UK and overseas
• Producing flight test plans and technical documentation
• Developing new test methods, rigs and equipment
• Capturing and analysing flight test data
• Producing technical reports and recommendations
• Creating and maintaining risk assessments
• Supporting NOTAMs, permissions and regulatory compliance
• Supporting SORA applications and CAA requirements
• Working closely with Design Engineers and Workshop Technicians to prepare aircraft for testing

Who We're Looking For

We're far more interested in attitude and engineering capability than ticking every box.

You'll probably have experience in areas such as:

• Rotary-wing aviation
• Helicopters
• UAVs / UAS
• Experimental aircraft
• Defence programmes
• Aircraft maintenance or integration
• Systems test or validation

Experience with CAA regulations, SORA, flight safety or regulatory documentation would be advantageous, although training can be provided.

Rotary-wing experience is key.

We're specifically interested in candidates with experience around rotary-wing aircraft or rotary-wing UAV systems.

This could include Helicoptors, Heavy Lift-UAVs, Rotary Unanned Aircraft, Large-scale RC Helicopters used professionally, Military Rotary platforms. This role is not aimed at commercial drone operators with experience on DJI platyforms (for example).

We also have opportunities for more experienced Flight Test Engineers. These people will be ticking Flight Safety & Flight Authorisation on relevent platforms.

Benefits Package:

• 9-day fortnight (every other Friday off)
• Company events
• UK & occasional international travel
• Genuine opportunity to influence aircraft development

If you're passionate about rotary-wing aviation, flight testing and advanced aerospace engineering, we'd love to hear from you.