Flight Operations Supervisor

Responsibilities

• Supervise and provide daily direction to UAS test pilots, operators, technicians, and assigned flight operations personnel.
• Plan, prioritize, and oversee execution of UAS flight test missions for prototype and production platforms.
• Ensure flight operations are conducted in accordance with FAA regulations, company policies, internal safety protocols, and approved test plans.
• Serve as Pilot-in-Command, Mission Commander, or operational lead as required.
• Make real-time go/no-go decisions based on aircraft readiness, environmental conditions, personnel readiness, risk posture, and mission objectives.
• Oversee pre-flight inspections, mission planning, airspace coordination, post-flight debriefs, and operational closeout activities.
• Manage multiple concurrent flight test schedules and adjust priorities based on business needs, engineering requirements, production timelines, and safety considerations.
• Support travel-based flight operations, demonstrations, customer events, and remote test activities as required.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop assigned UAS pilots, operators, technicians, and support personnel.
• Assign daily tasks, monitor work performance, and ensure accountability for operational deliverables.
• Support onboarding, training, qualification tracking, and proficiency development for flight operations personnel.
• Provide feedback to employees and participate in performance reviews, corrective actions, and development planning in partnership with management and Human Resources.
• Foster a professional, safety-focused, collaborative, and high-performance team environment.
• Identify staffing, training, tooling, and process needs required to support operational readiness.
• Oversee engineering flight tests designed to evaluate UAS performance, stability, reliability, system integration, and mission capability.
• Ensure test objectives, procedures, instrumentation needs, risk controls, and success criteria are clearly defined before flight activities.
• Review flight data, operational observations, and test results to support engineering analysis and product improvement.
• Provide actionable technical feedback to engineering, quality, and manufacturing teams based on aircraft performance and system behavior.
• Maintain awareness of evolving UAS technology, airspace regulations, industry best practices, and operational risk management methods.
• Career Development: Support onboarding, training, qualification tracking, and proficiency development for flight operations personnel.

Qualifications

• Prior military aviation, UAS, test, or operational flight experience.
• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in flight operations, UAS operations, aviation maintenance, test operations, manufacturing, or a related technical environment.
• Strong knowledge of UAS technology, airspace regulations, FAA requirements, and aviation safety practices.
• Experience conducting UAS flight testing, demonstrations, equipment evaluations, or technical troubleshooting.
• Ability to lead teams in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with shifting priorities.
• Strong decision-making skills, including the ability to make timely operational and safety decisions under pressure.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to brief teams, document findings, and communicate technical information to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to ensure compliance with operational protocols, safety procedures, and documentation requirements.
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities related to UAS equipment and flight operations.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with engineering, manufacturing, quality, and operations teams.
• Ability to lift boxes and equipment regularly.
• Ability to travel up to 25%, as business needs require.