Head of Flight Test Engineering
On-siteSouth San Francisco, California, United States
Job Summary
Lead the Flight Test Engineering team to convert complex engineering questions into safe, representative release evidence for autonomous delivery systems. Own validation strategy and campaigns for aircraft capabilities, software releases, hardware changes, and operational concepts, defining success criteria and go/no-go frameworks with cross-functional partners. Build automated test infrastructure, data pipelines, and anomaly detection systems to increase repeatability and decision quality while selecting appropriate validation modalities like simulation or ground testing. Partner with operations on site readiness and execution processes, fostering a strong safety culture across engineering and field teams.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years designing, developing, validating, or testing complex autonomous, robotic, aerospace, aviation, or safety-critical systems
- Experience leading flight test, system test, validation, or field test engineering teams while staying technically engaged
- Experience taking complex test campaigns from objective definition through planning, execution, analysis, and release recommendation
- Systems-level judgment across software, embedded, electrical, mechanical, controls, operations, and regulatory constraints
- Experience building or integrating test automation, analytics tooling, data pipelines, or scalable validation systems that improve coverage and efficiency
- Ability to lead cross-functional technical programs and communicate safety, risk, and engineering tradeoffs to engineers, operators, executives, and regulatory partners
- Comfort working in field environments with operational teams
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally for flight testing, team leadership, and test-site support
Desired Qualifications
- UAS experience
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