Head of Drone Flight Operations – UK

Skyports Deliveries Limited; Aylesbury; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Skyports Deliveries Limited is seeking an experienced operations leader to head flight operations from our Westcott facility. You will oversee Remote Pilots, Team Leaders, and multi-location teams for BVLOS and VLOS drone tasks, ensuring regulatory compliance and safe, efficient delivery of complex UAS missions.

You will drive resource planning, safety culture, and stakeholder engagement across customers, regulators, and internal teams while supporting growth into new programmes and locations in

Qualifications

• Proven operational leadership experience within aviation, UAS/drone operations, or another safety-critical environment.
• Strong understanding of UAS regulation and operating frameworks, including BVLOS operations.
• Experience managing multi-site, deployed, or remotely operated teams.
• Good technical understanding of UAS platforms, ground control systems, and maintenance.
• Experience managing operational risk within safety management systems.
• Excellent people-management and development skills.
• Clear communicator with customers, regulators, and stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel UK and international sites; work from Westcott facility.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day flight operations delivery and resourcing across locations.
• Oversee mission planning, pre-flight, execution, and close-out procedures.
• Ensure compliance with SOPs, ConOps, authorisations, and internal standards.
• Maintain aircraft/platform readiness, maintenance, and engineering authorisations.
• Line-manage Remote Pilots and Team Leaders; run 1:1s and development plans.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and recurrent training; foster safety culture.
• Represent Skyports with customers, partners, and aviation stakeholders.
• Develop growth by scaling operations, take-off/landing points, and bases.

Skills

Operational leadership

Aviation/UAS regulatory knowledge

Multi-site team management

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic resourcing & planning

People development

Communication with customers/reg Regul

Travel readiness

Education

Experience in aviation/UAS operations leadership (degree optional)

Tools

Ground control systems

Regulatory compliance tooling

Job description

Skyports Deliveries Limited is seeking an experienced operations leader to head flight operations from our Westcott facility. You will oversee Remote Pilots, Team Leaders, and multi-location teams for BVLOS and VLOS drone tasks, ensuring regulatory compliance and safe, efficient delivery of complex UAS missions.

You will drive resource planning, safety culture, and stakeholder engagement across customers, regulators, and internal teams while supporting growth into new programmes and locations in