Flight Team Lead — UAV Field Operations

Overview

We are looking for a Flight Team Lead to head the flight team responsible for testing our flagship R&D product — a GPS-denied alternative navigation system. This is a hands-on leadership role: the right candidate is a senior UAV pilot and a strong technician who can also lead, plan, and grow a small team of pilots and technicians.

You will own the flight-testing function end-to-end: team coordination, mission planning, safety, equipment readiness, data quality, and feedback loops back into engineering and research.

Responsibilities

Team leadership & coordination

• Lead and grow the flight team (pilots, pilot-technicians, UAV technicians)
• Plan team workload, shifts, and field deployments
• Set and uphold standards for safety, pre-flight discipline, and equipment care
• Own the team’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): write, update, and improve them as the product and operations evolve; ensure the team consistently follows them in the field
• Onboard, train, and mentor new team members
• Conduct post-flight debriefs and continuously improve team practices
• Be the primary point of contact between the flight team and engineering, research, QA, and integration teams

Mission planning & execution

• Plan and oversee flight test campaigns aligned with R&D and integration priorities
• Define test objectives, acceptance criteria, and risk mitigations together with engineers and researchers
• Ensure proper test documentation, flight logs, and reporting back to the teams that need the data

Technical ownership

• Own the readiness and configuration of the flight team’s UAV fleet
• Oversee maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and spare-parts logistics for airframes and supporting equipment
• Drive root-cause analysis of in-flight failures and turn findings into concrete improvements
• Contribute to selection, bring-up, and integration of new platforms

Requirements

Must-have

• 2+ years of real, hands-on UAV experience covering both piloting and technician work
• Significant real flight time on multirotor UAVs and/or fixed-wings
• Deep understanding of UAV core components (motors, ESCs, FCs, sensors, RC/telemetry links, power systems)
• Advanced Ardupilot expertise: tuning, parameters, custom configurations, failsafes, log analysis
• Strong experience with mission-planning software (Mission Planner)
• Proven diagnostic and repair skills for UAVs and supporting equipment
• Prior experience leading or coordinating a team in a technical / field-operations environment
• Ability to plan, prioritize, and run field campaigns end-to-end
• Strong safety mindset and discipline around procedures

Nice to have

• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education
• Combat experience
• Experience working closely with R&D / engineering teams on test campaigns
• English at B1 level or higher

Personal qualities

• Strong sense of responsibility and ownership
• Calm and decisive under pressure
• Clear communicator with both engineers and field operators
• Mentor-oriented; invested in the growth of the team
• Attention to detail and a process-improvement mindset
• Initiative — moves the team forward without waiting to be asked

We offer

• Competitive salary
• Reservation from mobilization
• On-site work with access to hardware and lab facilities
• Office in Kyiv with shelter access, generator and Starlink
• Impact on improving our country's defense capabilities
• 21 days of vacation + public holidays, sick leaves