RPIC Pilot - Autonomous Cargo Aircraft (Equity, PTO)

All Aviation Jobs; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Health benefits

6% Retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free lunches and snacks

AI tools and subscriptions

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace is hiring a Pilot to serve as Remote Pilot in Command for autonomous cargo aircraft. You will own the aircraft from preflight to post-flight and support the test team on the ground to prepare the next flight.

This role emphasizes deep UAS operational experience, situational awareness, and disciplined test operations. You will lead flight test activities, coordinate airspace and COA processes, and contribute to the development of autonomous mission concepts.

Qualifications

• Must have demonstrated RPIC experience for UAS or RPAS platforms in operational or test 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 working 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 and debriefs with mixed engineering and operations audiences.

Responsibilities

• Serve as RPIC for Poseidon aircraft during developmental flight testing and operational demonstrations.
• Execute flight test cards with precision, maintaining awareness of vehicle 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 conditions.
• Maintain and apply SOPs, emergency checklists, and crew resource management practices on every flight.
• Provide structured debrief reports including anomalies and qualitative flight assessment.
• Support ground operations, range setup, and communications infrastructure for test campaigns.
• 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, working with avionics and propulsion engineers.
• Contribute to developing operational concepts for autonomous and remote-piloted missions.

Skills

RPIC experience

Airspace coordination

Mission planning

Risk assessment

Education

FAA Part 107 cert

FAA Part 61/141 cert

Tools

Telemetry systems

GCS interfaces

Autopilot behavior

Job description

Poseidon Aerospace is hiring a Pilot to serve as Remote Pilot in Command for autonomous cargo aircraft. You will own the aircraft from preflight to post-flight and support the test team on the ground to prepare the next flight.

This role emphasizes deep UAS operational experience, situational awareness, and disciplined test operations. You will lead flight test activities, coordinate airspace and COA processes, and contribute to the development of autonomous mission concepts.