Senior Flight Ops Technician

About the role

The Senior Flight Ops Technician is a senior, hands-on technical role supporting the development, testing and operation of unmanned aircraft systems in Ukraine. It bridges aircraft prototyping, hardware integration, HIL and ground testing, aircraft maintenance and field flight operations, working closely with hardware, software, autonomy and flight-test teams. The technician builds and modifies prototype aircraft, integrates avionics and electrical systems, fabricates parts with 3D printing and rapid prototyping, and troubleshoots mechanical, electrical, communications and system-level issues. The role suits a versatile, self-sufficient senior technician who moves between the lab, aircraft, HIL environment and flight-test site.

Key responsibilities

• Build, modify, assemble, maintain and repair prototype unmanned aircraft and related test systems.
• Install and integrate avionics, sensors, compute hardware, radios, antennas, payloads, wiring and other experimental hardware.
• Fabricate prototype and replacement components using 3D printing, hand and power tools and other rapid-prototyping methods.
• Build, wire, configure, maintain and troubleshoot wiring harnesses, connectors, electrical assemblies and aircraft electrical systems.
• Build, wire, configure, maintain and troubleshoot HIL rigs, test fixtures and related engineering test infrastructure.
• Integrate flight computers, avionics, sensors, actuators and communications equipment into HIL and bench-test environments.
• Diagnose mechanical, electrical, avionics, communications, networking and system-level issues across aircraft and test equipment.
• Support SIL, HIL, VIL, bench, ground and live-flight testing, including functional checks and troubleshooting.
• Perform aircraft inspections, maintenance, repairs, configuration changes and pre- and post-flight activities.
• Help establish and maintain a local prototyping and flight-operations lab, including tools, test equipment, fabrication equipment, spares, batteries and support equipment.
• Support flight operations: aircraft setup, launch and recovery, test-site setup and teardown, and preparation of equipment for field deployments.
• Maintain aircraft, test-system, maintenance, configuration, inventory and other technical documentation.
• Work with hardware, software, autonomy and flight-test engineers to diagnose problems, implement modifications and improve test capabilities.
• Transport personnel and equipment to test sites and travel within Ukraine; mentor less-experienced technicians.

Required profile

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in UAS, aviation, aerospace, robotics, electronics, manufacturing, test support or a related technical field.
• Strong mechanical and electrical aptitude with experience building, modifying, maintaining or repairing complex electromechanical systems.
• Experience integrating hardware into aircraft, robotics, prototypes or test systems.
• Ability to read mechanical drawings, wiring diagrams, schematics and engineering documentation.
• Experience with rapid prototyping, fabrication and iterative hardware development.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel within Ukraine as required.

Required skills

• Hands-on electrical work: wiring, connectors, soldering, crimping, cable fabrication and electrical troubleshooting.
• Building, maintaining or troubleshooting HIL rigs, test stands and test fixtures.
• Common mechanical and electrical tools and test equipment.
• Attention to detail, workmanship, safety and configuration control; independent problem solving.

Preferred: experience with fixed-wing and multirotor UAS, autonomous or experimental aircraft, HIL environments, 3D printing, CAD, PX4/ArduPilot, flight-control systems, Ground Control Stations, Linux, oscilloscopes and lab establishment; Ukrainian and English proficiency.