Autonomous Drone Systems Engineer & Test Pilot

Sentradel; Nevada (IA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Sentradel in Minden, Nevada, seeks a Drone Operator to build, program, and fly drones for live-fire demos and testing. You will own the fleet end to end—airframes, firmware, flight profiles, and repairs between sorties—while supporting customers across the United States.

You will deploy autonomous flight, modify firmware, and operate as pilot in command during tests and demonstrations, with extensive hands-on drone-building duties and data extraction for the engineering team.

Qualifications

• Extensive ArduPilot experience including Mission Planner, tuning, and custom builds.
• Ability to read logs and explain aircraft behavior.
• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate is required.
• Experience building drones from bare frames and field repair skills.
• Expert level stick time, both manual and autonomous flight.
• Experience fixing a broken aircraft in the field and flying it again the same day.

Responsibilities

• Build, wire, solder, and repair the target drone fleet.
• Flash and configure flight controllers, tune aircraft for repeatable test profiles.
• Modify ArduPilot code for new behaviors and safety profiles.
• Plan and fly autonomous missions producing consistent engagements.
• Serve as pilot in command at range tests and customer demos across the US.
• Own batteries, radios, ground stations, and spares for test days.
• Pull flight logs and produce usable test data for engineers.

Skills

ArduPilot

Mission Planner

Log analysis

Custom builds

Parameter tuning

FAA Part 107

Drone hardware

Pilot in command

Autonomous flight

Field repair

Tools

ArduPilot codebase

Firmware flashing

Job description

Sentradel in Minden, Nevada, seeks a Drone Operator to build, program, and fly drones for live-fire demos and testing. You will own the fleet end to end—airframes, firmware, flight profiles, and repairs between sorties—while supporting customers across the United States.

You will deploy autonomous flight, modify firmware, and operate as pilot in command during tests and demonstrations, with extensive hands-on drone-building duties and data extraction for the engineering team.