Senior Flight Test Engineer — UAV Autonomy & Validation

Vertical Aviation International; Northern, San Diego (KY, CA); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision plans

401(k) Retirement Savings

Equity grants

Unlimited PTO

Generous holidays

Parental leave

Lifestyle Spending Account

FSA / DCFSA / HSA

Life insurance + disability

Mental health resources

Job summary

Firestorm Labs is seeking a Senior Flight Test Engineer to advance UAV flight control and automation through rigorous testing. You will design and execute detailed flight test plans, lead test briefs, and work with autonomy and integration teams to ensure safety and reliability across mission profiles.

You will conduct in-depth data analysis, develop instrumentation, and produce technical artifacts for internal and customer deliverables, while ensuring FAA and ITAR compliance and a focus on

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Robotics, or related field; hands-on experience acceptable in lieu of a degree.
• Minimum 5 years as a flight test engineer focusing on autonomous or remotely piloted systems.
• US Citizenship due to ITAR; ability to obtain DoD clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead developmental flight testing with sub-scale and full-scale UAVs in dynamic environments.
• Design and document environmental stress tests including vibration and thermal checks.
• Create detailed flight test plans, safety procedures, and test cards for aircraft.
• Act as test conductor during flights, manage Go/No-Go criteria and briefs.
• Plan and lead ground tests for system validation including risk assessments.
• Analyze test data using DOE, regression analysis, and other methods.
• Develop test setups and data acquisition tools for repeatable validation.
• Coordinate with autonomy, software, hardware teams to define test requirements.

Skills

Flight test engineering

Autonomous systems

Instrumentation and data systems

DOE / Design of Experiments

Data analysis

Technical writing

System integration feedback

Cross-functional collaboration

Python / scripting

C++

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Robotics, or related field

Tools

MATLAB

Simulink

Python

C++

Job description

Firestorm Labs is seeking a Senior Flight Test Engineer to advance UAV flight control and automation through rigorous testing. You will design and execute detailed flight test plans, lead test briefs, and work with autonomy and integration teams to ensure safety and reliability across mission profiles.

You will conduct in-depth data analysis, develop instrumentation, and produce technical artifacts for internal and customer deliverables, while ensuring FAA and ITAR compliance and a focus on