Remote UAS Chief Pilot & Flight Ops Leader

Syos Aerospace; Fareham; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

SYOS Aerospace UK is seeking an experienced UAS Chief Pilot to lead flight operations, ensure RPIC duties, and maintain regulatory compliance across multiple UAS platforms. You will work with the Flight Operations Manager, engineering teams and other functions to enable safe testing and development programs.

The role requires hands-on flying, strong safety management, and travel to airfields and ops locations.

Qualifications

• Minimum 200 hours of UAS flight experience as Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC).
• Formal UAS pilot qualification, such as Part 102 or international equivalent.
• Experience operating within a Part 102 certified organisation or international equivalent.
• Experience leading small, highly skilled teams.
• Strong understanding of UAS regulatory frameworks and operational compliance.
• Proven experience acting as RPIC with responsibility for aircraft safety and legal compliance.
• Strong understanding of both VLOS and BVLOS operations.
• Experience operating fixed-wing and/or rotary-wing UAS.
• Experience developing and managing operational documentation, including flight plans, test plans, risk assessments, checklists and crew briefings.
• Strong communication and coordination skills, with the ability to work effectively across engineering, operations and other functions.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage UAS Remote Pilots within the Flight Operations team.
• Coordinate onboarding, training, currency and competency of UAS pilots.
• Support the development of a highly capable, professional and safety-focused flight operations team.
• Assess and approve flight requests from across the business.
• Coordinate and undertake flight operations supporting engineering, testing and development activities.
• Act as Remote Pilot in Command across a range of fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAS platforms.
• Ensure flight objectives are achieved safely, efficiently and in accordance with approved procedures.
• Champion a strong flight safety culture across SYOS.
• Ensure all flight operations comply with applicable UAS regulations and approved operational procedures.
• Conduct operational risk assessments and implement appropriate mitigation measures.
• Enforce flight safety protocols and contribute to the ongoing development of SYOS's Safety Management System.
• Coordinate occurrence investigations and drive appropriate corrective and preventative actions.
• Maintain overall responsibility for aircraft safety and regulatory compliance when acting as RPIC.
• Coordinate the development and maintenance of regulatory documentation required for flight operations.
• Support the development of Specific Operations Risk Assessments (SORA) and associated operational documentation.
• Prepare and manage flight plans, test plans, risk assessments, checklists, hazard logs and crew briefings.
• Coordinate airspace permissions, range bookings and other operational requirements.
• Liaise with regulatory authorities, Air Traffic Control, range safety officers and other stakeholders to secure flight authorisations.
• Support the Flight Operations Manager with regulatory approvals and operational planning.
• Work closely with engineering and test teams to support aircraft development and flight test programmes.
• Provide operational input into test planning and flight-test methodology.
• Ensure pilots and flight operations are appropriately briefed and prepared for test activities.
• Contribute to formal flight-test reports and post-flight analysis.
• Interpret telemetry, flight data and flight logs to support safe and effective operations.

Skills

RPIC leadership

Regulatory compliance

UAS operations

Multi-Platform operations

Onboarding & training

Cross-team communication

Education

Part 102 or international equivalent

Job description

SYOS Aerospace UK is seeking an experienced UAS Chief Pilot to lead flight operations, ensure RPIC duties, and maintain regulatory compliance across multiple UAS platforms. You will work with the Flight Operations Manager, engineering teams and other functions to enable safe testing and development programs.

The role requires hands-on flying, strong safety management, and travel to airfields and ops locations.