Pilot

About Poseidon Aerospace:

Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft - capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine; we're building something consequential.

As a Pilot at Poseidon Aerospace, you will serve as the Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) for our next-generation autonomous aircraft. Flying is your primary function, you own the aircraft from preflight to post-flight, and when you're not in the air, you're supporting the test team on the ground to make sure the next flight is ready to go.

This role is for pilots first. You bring deep UAS operational experience, sharp situational awareness, and the discipline to run repeatable test operations safely. The engineering curiosity is a bonus, stick time is the foundation.

Flying responsibilities

Serve as RPIC for all Poseidon aircraft during developmental flight testing and operational demonstrations

Execute flight test cards with precision, maintaining awareness of vehicle state, airspace, and test objectives throughout each sortie

Lead preflight briefings and postflight debriefings with the test team

Conduct flight readiness reviews and make go/no-go decisions based on aircraft status, weather, and airspace conditions

Maintain and apply SOPs, emergency checklists, and crew resource management practices on every flight

Provide structured debrief reports including anomalies, out-of-limits observations, and qualitative flight assessment

Ground support responsibilities

When not flying, you'll work alongside the test team to keep operations moving.

Support ground operations, range setup, and communications infrastructure for test campaigns

Assist in developing and maintaining flight test plans, SOPs, and operational documentation

Coordinate airspace authorizations, COA applications, and range scheduling

Review flight data logs to flag anomalies and provide pilot perspective to engineering teams

Help configure and verify aircraft systems prior to flight, working alongside avionics and propulsion engineers

Contribute to the development of operational concepts for autonomous and remote-piloted missions

Required qualifications

Demonstrated experience as RPIC for UAS or RPAS platforms in operational or test environments

FAA Part 107 certification; familiarity with COA processes and experimental aircraft operations

FAA Part 61 or Part 141 certificated pilot (Private, Commercial, or ATP) with multi-engine privileges

Strong working knowledge of airspace coordination, mission planning, and preflight risk assessment

Ability to execute disciplined, repeatable test operations in dynamic field environments

Clear, structured communicator — comfortable leading briefs and debriefs with mixed engineering and operations audiences

At ease with evolving aircraft configurations and startup-level operational tempo

Bonus points for

RPIC experience on large or complex UAS platforms (Group 3–5, e.g., Reaper, Global Hawk, or comparable)

Familiarity with telemetry systems, GCS interfaces, and autopilot behavior in test configurations

Experience supporting field test campaigns for new or developmental aircraft platforms

Exposure to flight test instrumentation, data logging, or postflight analysis workflows

Knowledge of simulation environments used for mission rehearsal or systems testing

Aerospace, systems, or mechanical engineering background

What you get from us

Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity

Relocation support if applicable

Employee Health Benefit Plans

6% Retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our offices

AI tools and subscriptions