UAS Flight Test Operator
US$36 – US$54 / hr base salary
Posted 14 Sep 2026
Advertised as “Staff UAS Flight Test Operator - 5793”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Level
- 5793
- Expected experience
- 8+ yrs
- Management level
- People management
- Employment
- On-Site
- Contract
- Full-time
| Base salary | US$36 – US$54 / hr |
|---|
CertificationsFAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
The Staff UAS Flight Test Operator leads system-level flight test operations supporting Hivemind Mission Autonomy across small UAS and external platforms. As a member of the Hivemind Product Quality team, this role supports the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) for HivemindSDK by testing pre-release software and verifying its features, capabilities, and operational performance in representative laboratory and flight environments. The operator is responsible for the operational readiness, configuration, and safe operation of multi-rotor and fixed-wing UAS, payloads, ground control systems, and supporting test equipment; plans and conducts single- and multi-aircraft missions; supports fly–fix–fly campaigns; validates autonomy capabilities; identifies defects and usability issues; and provides actionable feedback to improve the quality and customer readiness of each release.
What You’ll Do:
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Lead system-level flight test campaigns for Hivemind Mission Autonomy across multi-rotor, fixed-wing, and external UAS platforms, including day-to-day fly–fix–fly operations.
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Plan and conduct missions in accordance with approved test plans, test cards, configuration requirements, release criteria, and safety procedures.
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Operate, configure, inspect, and maintain UAS, payloads, ground control systems, communications equipment, and supporting test infrastructure across laboratory, ground, and flight-test environments.
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Test pre-release HivemindSDK versions by verifying features, integrations, autonomy capabilities, and performance against defined product and quality requirements.
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Develop and execute representative customer workflows and mission scenarios to assess SDK functionality, usability, reliability, and operational performance across aircraft types and multi-agent configurations.