RPIC - Autonomous Cargo Aircraft Pilot

Poseidonaero; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & equity

Relocation support

Health benefits

6% retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free lunches & snacks

AI tools & subscriptions

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace in the San Francisco Bay Area seeks an experienced Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) for its next-generation autonomous cargo aircraft. You will own flights from preflight to postflight and support ground teams to ensure readiness for each mission, balancing safety with rapid test cycles.

The role emphasizes disciplined, repeatable test operations, strong airspace coordination, and clear communication across engineering and operations teams, with opportunities for early-stage

Qualifications

• RPIC experience on UAS/RPAS platforms in test or operational environments.
• FAA Part 107 certification; familiarity with COA processes and experimental aircraft operations.
• FAA Part 61 or Part 141 certificated pilot (Private, Commercial, or ATP) with multi-engine privileges.
• Strong knowledge of airspace coordination, mission planning, and preflight risk assessment.
• Ability to execute disciplined, repeatable test operations in dynamic field environments.
• Clear, structured communicator—comfortable leading briefs/debriefs with mixed engineering/operations audiences.
• Adaptable to evolving aircraft configurations and startup-level operational tempo.

Responsibilities

• Serve as RPIC for Poseidon aircraft during developmental flight testing and demonstrations.
• Execute flight test cards with precision, maintaining awareness of aircraft state, airspace, and test objectives.
• Lead preflight briefings and postflight debriefings with the test team.
• Conduct flight readiness reviews and make go/no-go decisions based on aircraft status, weather, and airspace.
• Maintain and apply SOPs, emergency checklists, and CRM practices on every flight.
• Provide structured debrief reports including anomalies and qualitative flight assessments.
• Support ground operations, range setup, and communications infrastructure for test campaigns.
• Develop and maintain flight test plans, SOPs, and operational documentation.
• Coordinate airspace authorizations, COA applications, and range scheduling.
• Review flight data logs to flag anomalies and provide pilot perspective to engineering teams.
• Help configure and verify aircraft systems prior to flight with avionics/propulsion engineers.
• Contribute to operational concepts for autonomous and remote-piloted missions.

Skills

RPIC experience

FAA Part 107

FAA Part 61/141 cert

Airspace coordination

Mission planning

Risk assessment

Briefing/debriefing

Startup and tempo management

Communication

Education

Aerospace, systems, or mechanical engineering background

Tools

Telemetry systems

GCS interfaces

Autopilot behavior in test configs

Job description

Poseidon Aerospace in the San Francisco Bay Area seeks an experienced Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) for its next-generation autonomous cargo aircraft. You will own flights from preflight to postflight and support ground teams to ensure readiness for each mission, balancing safety with rapid test cycles.

The role emphasizes disciplined, repeatable test operations, strong airspace coordination, and clear communication across engineering and operations teams, with opportunities for early-stage