Flight Operations Director - Tactical UAS

Performance Drone Works, LLC; Huntsville (AL); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Life insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Generous PTO

Competitive salary

Job summary

Performance Drone Works, LLC is expanding its Flight Operations to support a growing portfolio of multi-mission aerial systems used in defense and national security. The role leads the strategy, capacity, and development of PDW Flight Operations for production, R&D, and customer flights, while building a scalable organization.

The position requires 8+ years in UAS/aviation operations, leadership experience, and an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate with a small UAS rating.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in UAS/aviation flight operations or similar aerospace environment.
• 5+ years leading a flight-operations or flight-test organization.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• FAA Remote Pilot Certificate with a small UAS rating.
• Experience with FAA operating requirements, airspace authorizations, waivers, LAANC, Remote ID, FCC/range requirements.
• Experience establishing or managing flight-safety programs and corrective actions.
• Ability to travel for off-site operations and field deployments.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy, capacity, operating model, and development of PDW Flight Operations across production, R&D, qualification, regression, performance, demonstration, and customer flight activities.
• Lead, develop, and scale the Flight Operations organization through workforce planning, accountability, performance management, succession planning, and development of pilots, supervisors, and staff.
• Establish and govern flight-safety policy, risk controls, emergency procedures, stop-work authority, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and govern pilot qualification, authorization, recurrent training, and flight-currency programs; approve, restrict, or suspend operational privileges.
• Direct flight-test planning, readiness reviews, prioritization, scheduling, and execution per test plans and acceptance criteria.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Product Management, and Program Management to resolve readiness constraints and communicate risks.
• Ensure the fleet is maintained, configured, registered, tracked, and released with complete maintenance and flight records.
• Manage flight facilities, airspace authorizations, waivers, range coordination, and field deployments.
• Own headcount, equipment, schedule, and performance metrics including safety, currency, fleet availability, and data quality.
• Lead responses to flight incidents, anomalies, and operational performance issues with containment and corrective actions.

Skills

Leadership

Workforce planning

Risk management

Flight operations

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Equivalent experience

Tools

FAA Remote Pilot Certificate

LAANC

Remote ID

Job description

Performance Drone Works, LLC is expanding its Flight Operations to support a growing portfolio of multi-mission aerial systems used in defense and national security. The role leads the strategy, capacity, and development of PDW Flight Operations for production, R&D, and customer flights, while building a scalable organization.

The position requires 8+ years in UAS/aviation operations, leadership experience, and an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate with a small UAS rating.