Shield AI
Staff UAS Flight Test Operator - 5793
San Diego, California · On-site · Staff · Full-time · Posted Sep 14, 2026
- Experience
- 8+ years; no alternatives stated.
About the job
Leads UAS flight-test campaigns to verify Hivemind Mission Autonomy and HivemindSDK performance, safety, and readiness across aircraft and test environments.
What you'll do
- Plan, lead, and conduct UAS missions and fly–fix–fly test campaigns under approved test plans and safety procedures.
- Configure, inspect, and operate aircraft, payloads, control systems, and test equipment; monitor telemetry and collect flight data.
- Document defects and test outcomes, support issue triage, and provide feedback to product and engineering teams.
What they ask for
- 8+ years operating, configuring, and maintaining Group 1/2 UAS platforms.
- Experience leading complex UAS flight operations, including mission planning, test-card execution, and crew coordination.
- Experience with UAS hardware and assessing operational readiness and configuration control.
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate holder.
Nice to have
- Experience supporting autonomy, AI-enabled systems, or developmental flight test programs.
- Experience with ArduPilot, PX4, QGroundControl, Mission Planner, Linux, IP networking, MAVLink, ROS/ROS 2, or scripting.
Pay
USD 35.6–54.3 per-hour-wage (base salary)
Tools
HivemindSDK, ArduPilot, PX4, QGroundControl, Mission Planner, Linux, MAVLink, ROS/ROS 2
AI focus
Tests and validates autonomy capabilities and AI-enabled systems in representative laboratory and flight environments.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative