Ground Control Systems Lead for Autonomous Flight

Apera

California

On-site

USD 150,000 - 210,000

Full time

9 days ago

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Job summary

Apera, based in California, seeks a seasoned systems engineering leader to own the end-to-end architecture of the ground command and control platform for autonomous aircraft. You will partner with vehicle and avionics teams to set interface requirements, support multi-region resilience, and drive FAA regulatory strategy including BVLOS and DAA integration.

You will also define cybersecurity, safety analyses, and supervise large fleets with attention to HMI workloads.

Qualifications

10+ years in systems engineering, with aviation experience.
Experience with safety analyses for complex distributed systems.
Familiarity with FAA certification processes (Part 135/23/25 or BVLOS) or equivalent.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end architecture of the ground command and control platform with redundancy and multi-region resilience.
Drive FAA regulatory strategy and submissions for ground control certification, BVLOS approvals, and DAA integration.
Author and maintain compliance documentation.
Define aircraft-to-ground interface requirements including latency, telemetry, and degraded-mode behavior with vehicle/avionics teams.
Develop the operational framework for remote pilot supervision of large autonomous fleets, including HMI requirements and workload management.
Define cybersecurity architecture and threat modeling across ground-to-air links and infrastructure.
Serve as the primary technical interface with the FAA and other regulatory bodies.