Remote-Ready Drone Pilot & Reality Capture Specialist

Jacobs; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 104,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan

Stock purchase plan

Unlimited PPTO

Seven paid holidays

Caregiver leave

Job summary

Jacobs is seeking a technically focused Drone Pilot to transform aerial data into practical project information. You will safely operate commercial drones across construction, engineering, and facility environments, coordinating with BIM/VDC teams to deliver reliable deliverables.

The role requires FAA Part 107 certification, 3+ years of drone experience, and strong safety, communication, and documentation skills.

Qualifications

• Current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.
• 3+ years of experience operating commercial drones.
• Experience developing flight plans and executing UAS operations around active construction or industrial sites.
• Working knowledge of photogrammetry, orthomosaics, 3D meshes, and point clouds.
• Understanding of BIM/VDC coordination, design documentation, and field verification.
• Experience with survey control, coordinate systems, georeferencing, and accuracy requirements.
• Experience processing, validating, publishing, and archiving large imagery datasets.
• Ability to interpret construction drawings, BIM models, schedules, and project plans.
• Strong safety awareness and ability to work within formal programs.
• Excellent communication, organization, documentation, and stakeholder-engagement skills.
• Ability to travel to project sites and work flexible hours when flight windows require off-shift or weekend operations.

Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct commercial drone flights following FAA regulations and project requirements.
• Maintain pilot credentials, aircraft registrations, operating records, pre-flight documentation, and flight logs.
• Perform pre-flight inspections and verify aircraft, batteries, sensors, firmware, and data-storage capacity.
• Operate drones safely in active construction, industrial, and data center environments.
• Coordinate flight windows, airspace restrictions, site access, security requirements with stakeholders.
• Use visual observers and site communication protocols when required.
• Respond to changing weather, site conditions, equipment issues, and other operational risks.
• Capture high-quality aerial imagery, video, 360-degree imagery, and data for design, construction, and operations.
• Develop repeatable flight plans and capture standards for progress documentation and turnover verification.
• Publish or transfer deliverables to Autodesk Construction Cloud, GIS platforms, or other environments.
• Perform quality checks for image clarity, coverage, and metadata.
• Coordinate with VDC and design teams to compare captured conditions against BIM models.
• Maintain organized project archives for raw data, processed data, reports, and final deliverables.
• Support construction progress tracking and 4D coordination.
• Provide aerial documentation for inspections, turnover, and safety observations.
• Assist with data collection in hard-to-access or hazardous areas.
• Travel to sites and adapt to off-shift or weekend windows.
• Familiarity with Skydio X10 is a plus.

Skills

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate

3+ years of drone operation

Flight planning experience

Photogrammetry knowledge

BIM/VDC coordination

Safety awareness

Clear communication

Willingness to travel

Tools

DJI X series

Autodesk Construction Cloud

Pix4D

DroneDeploy

Propeller

Navisworks

Revit

Civil 3D

Bentley Context Capture

ArcGIS

Job description

Jacobs is seeking a technically focused Drone Pilot to transform aerial data into practical project information. You will safely operate commercial drones across construction, engineering, and facility environments, coordinating with BIM/VDC teams to deliver reliable deliverables.

The role requires FAA Part 107 certification, 3+ years of drone experience, and strong safety, communication, and documentation skills.