Fixed-Wing Test Pilot + Flight-Control/Tuning Engineer + UAV Electronics Integration Engineer

EnerComp Solutions Pvt Ltd; Ahmedabad District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

EnerComp Solutions Pvt Ltd in Ahmedabad is seeking a highly skilled Fixed-Wing UAV Pilot & Flight Test Engineer to lead the flight-test cycle, configure flight controllers, and conduct autonomous mission testing.

The role blends hands-on piloting with systems engineering, requiring experience with PX4/ArduPilot, VTOL transitions, sensor calibration, log analysis, and robust problem solving for UAV platforms.

Qualifications

• B.E./B.Tech in relevant engineering required.
• Prefer 3+ years UAV flight-test experience.
• Willingness to travel to test sites and customers.

Responsibilities

• Manually fly fixed-wing UAVs and fixed-wing VTOLs.
• Perform take-off, landing, circuit flying and emergency recovery.
• Configure and test flight controllers (PX4/ArduPilot) and related sensors.
• Conduct maiden flights and transition testing between VTOL and fixed-wing.
• Analyze flight logs and diagnose aerodynamics, propulsion, and control issues.
• Prepare and execute systematic flight-test programs with pre-flight checks.

Skills

Fixed-wing flying

VTOL flying

UAV experience 3+ years

PX4 configuration

ArduPilot configuration

PID/autopilot tuning

Flight-log analysis

UAV aerodynamics

CG and stability

Electronics integration

Flight-testing preparation

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

Flight controllers

Job description

Job Description – Fixed-Wing UAV Pilot & Flight Test Engineer

Position: Fixed-Wing UAV Pilot & Flight Test Engineer

Department: UAV Development / Flight Testing

Experience: Preferably 3+ years

Qualification: B.E./B.Tech in Electronics, Electronics & Communication, Electrical, Mechatronics, Aerospace, Avionics or related engineering discipline

Employment Type: Full-time

Travel: Should be willing to travel frequently to UAV test sites and customer demonstration locations

1. Position Summary

We are looking for a technically strong Fixed-Wing UAV Pilot & Flight Test Engineer who can combine excellent manual flying skills with a thorough understanding of UAV electronics, flight controllers, autopilot configuration and flight testing.

The candidate should be capable of independently handling the complete flight-test cycle of fixed-wing and fixed-wing VTOL UAVs, including aircraft configuration, manual flying, PID tuning, autopilot tuning, sensor calibration, integration testing, log analysis, troubleshooting and validation of the aircraft before release for operational use.

This is not purely a UAV pilot position. The candidate is expected to be an engineering-oriented test pilot capable of understanding the behaviour of the aircraft and diagnosing problems related to aerodynamics, flight-controller configuration, propulsion, sensors, communications and other onboard systems.

2. Key Responsibilities

A. Fixed-Wing & VTOL Flying

• Manually fly conventional fixed-wing UAVs.
• Manually fly fixed-wing VTOL UAVs.
• Conduct take-off, landing, circuit flying and emergency recovery.
• Perform safe transition testing between VTOL/hover and fixed-wing flight.
• Conduct maiden flights of newly developed UAV platforms.
• Evaluate aircraft stability, controllability and handling characteristics.
• Test aircraft under different payload, CG, wind and operating conditions.
• Conduct autonomous mission testing after successful manual-flight validation.
• Identify abnormal aircraft behaviour during flight and take appropriate corrective action.

Candidate should be capable of configuring and testing flight controllers based preferably on:

• PX4
• Pixhawk-compatible flight controllers
• STM32-based/custom flight controllers

Responsibilities will include:

• Complete flight-controller setup and parameter configuration.
• Accelerometer, compass, airspeed sensor and other sensor calibration.
• Radio/RC calibration.
• Servo direction, travel and control-surface configuration.
• Flight-mode configuration.
• Failsafe configuration.
• GPS/GNSS configuration.
• VTOL transition configuration.
• Autonomous mission configuration.
• Geofence, RTL and emergency behaviour configuration.

3. PID Tuning & Aircraft Tuning

The candidate should have practical knowledge of:

• Roll, pitch and yaw tuning.
• Rate and attitude controller tuning.
• Fixed-wing control-loop tuning.
• VTOL/multirotor tuning.
• Transition tuning for QuadPlane/fixed-wing VTOL aircraft.
• Airspeed and throttle tuning.
• Identification and correction of oscillations.
• Servo and control-surface tuning.

The candidate should understand the relationship between aircraft aerodynamics, CG, control-surface authority, servo response and flight-controller parameters rather than simply changing parameters by trial and error.

4. Flight Testing & Diagnosis

The candidate will be responsible for preparing and executing systematic flight-test programs.

This includes:

• Pre-flight inspection and checklists.
• Ground testing before maiden flight.
• Power-system verification.
• Range testing.
• Taxi/runway testing where applicable.
• Hover testing of VTOL aircraft.
• Fixed-wing maiden flight.
• Transition testing.
• Autonomous-flight testing.
• Payload flight testing.
• Endurance and range testing.

The pilot should be able to diagnose problems such as:

• Pitch/roll oscillations.
• Poor altitude holding.
• Unstable transitions.
• Incorrect CG.
• Servo problems.
• GPS/GNSS problems.
• Compass interference.
• Airspeed-sensor problems.
• Vibration.
• Power-system problems.
• Telemetry/link problems.
• Motor/ESC abnormalities.

The candidate should be comfortable downloading and analysing flight logs after every important test flight.

Expected capabilities include analysing:

• PID response.
• EKF performance.
• Airspeed.
• Current and voltage.
• Flight modes.
• VTOL transition behaviour.
• Communication/link performance.

Based on the analysis, the engineer should be able to recommend parameter, hardware or aircraft modifications before the next test flight.

Preference will be given to candidates with an Electronics/Electronics & Communication engineering background and hands‑on experience integrating UAV electronics.

Candidate should be comfortable working with:

• GNSS/GPS and RTK GNSS.
• IMU, magnetometer and barometric sensors.
• Airspeed sensors.
• Telemetry radios.
• RC receivers.
• ESCs and BLDC motors.
• Servos.
• Batteries and power‑management systems.
• Cameras and payloads.
• Companion computers.
• UART, CAN, I²C and SPI interfaces.

Basic ability to use instruments such as a multimeter, oscilloscope and other electronics test equipment will be an advantage.

7. Desired Technical Skills

• Strong fixed-wing UAV manual flying skills.
• Fixed-wing VTOL flying experience.
• Minimum approximately 3 years of relevant UAV experience preferred.
• ArduPilot and/or PX4 configuration experience.
• Practical PID/autopilot tuning experience.
• Flight-log analysis and troubleshooting.
• Understanding of UAV aerodynamics and flight dynamics.
• Understanding of CG, stability and control.
• Electronics integration and troubleshooting.
• Ability to independently prepare an aircraft for flight testing.

Highly Desirable:

• PX4 VTOL experience.
• Experience with large fixed-wing UAVs.
• Experience conducting maiden flights.
• RTK/PPK GNSS integration.
• MAVLink knowledge.
• CAN/UAVCAN knowledge.
• Telemetry and RF system integration.
• Payload and camera integration.
• Experience developing and validating new UAV platforms.

8. Personal Attributes

• Have a strong safety-first approach to flight testing.
• Be systematic rather than relying only on piloting skill.
• Remain calm during abnormal flight situations.
• Have strong troubleshooting and analytical abilities.
• Be willing to work in the field and at UAV test sites.
• Maintain proper flight-test records.
• Communicate problems clearly to mechanical, electronics and software development teams.
• Be capable of taking ownership of an aircraft from ground configuration through maiden flight, tuning and final validation.

9. Key Performance Expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Bring newly developed fixed-wing/VTOL UAVs from initial ground testing to safe flight.
• Complete flight-controller configuration and tuning.
• Conduct maiden and development flights safely.
• Identify and resolve flight-control and integration problems.
• Analyse flight logs and recommend corrective actions.
• Validate manual, assisted and autonomous flight modes.
• Establish repeatable configuration and flight-test procedures.
• Maintain proper test-flight reports and aircraft configuration records.
• Train junior pilots/engineers where required.
• Support customer demonstrations and field trials.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is not simply an RC/UAV pilot. We are specifically looking for someone who combines three capabilities:

A candidate who can manually fly a newly developed fixed-wing VTOL aircraft, understand its flight behaviour, analyse the autopilot logs, tune the PID/control parameters, diagnose electronics or sensor problems, make the necessary configuration changes and safely conduct the next test flight would be an excellent fit for this position.