Flight Operations Leader, UAS – Scale & Safety

PDW; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) with match

Parental leave

On-site gym (Huntsville)

Life insurance

EAP

PTO & flexible leave

Job summary

Performance Drone Works (PDW) in Huntsville, AL, is seeking a Senior Manager, Flight Operations to own safe, compliant, and scalable execution of PDW flight activities across production and development. You will set operating strategy and lead the Flight Operations team.

You will manage pilot qualifications, risk controls, and collaboration with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Program Management to translate flight results into action, maintaining records and compliance.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in UAS/aviation flight operations, including production and development.
• 5+ years leading flight-operations or flight-test teams with budgets and resources.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related discipline; FAA certification as above.

Responsibilities

• Own strategy, capacity, operating model for PDW Flight Operations.
• Lead and scale the Flight Operations organization through workforce planning and development.
• Establish and govern flight-safety policy and risk controls per FAA and FCC requirements.
• Develop pilot qualification and training programs, including currency and authorizations.
• Direct flight-test planning, readiness reviews, and execution against test plans.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Program Management to resolve readiness constraints.
• Ensure the fleet is maintained, registered, and releases for flight with complete records.
• Manage flight facilities, waivers, and field deployments to support PDW activities.
• Own headcount, equipment, schedule, and performance metrics.
• Lead responses to flight incidents with containment and corrective actions.

Skills

Flight operations leadership

Regulatory compliance

Risk management

Strategic planning

People development

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aviation, engineering, business, safety

FAA Remote Pilot Certificate with a small UAS rating

Job description

Performance Drone Works (PDW) in Huntsville, AL, is seeking a Senior Manager, Flight Operations to own safe, compliant, and scalable execution of PDW flight activities across production and development. You will set operating strategy and lead the Flight Operations team.

You will manage pilot qualifications, risk controls, and collaboration with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Program Management to translate flight results into action, maintaining records and compliance.