UAS Team Lead

Oxy produces , markets and transports oil and natural gas to maximize value and provide resources fundamental to life. The company leverages its global leadership in carbon management to advance lower-carbon technologies and products. Headquartered in Houston, Oxy primarily operates in the United States, Middle East and North Africa. To learn more, visit Oxy

Oxy strives to attract and retain talented employees by investing in their professional development and providing rewarding opportunities for personal growth. Our goal is to meet the highest employer standards by ensuring the health and safety of our employees, protecting the environment and positively impacting our communities where we do business.

The UAS Operations Team Leader is responsible for the leadership, daily management, and continuous advancement of the organization's internal unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drone) program. This role serves as the primary technical authority and operational leader for all drone-based activities supporting Oxy’s oil and gas operations including, facility and well pad imaging, pipeline and midstream infrastructure inspections, drone based compliance inspections, electrical transmission and distribution asset imaging and inspections, offshore inspections, and related industrial inspection programs.

The Team Leader ensures all UAS operations are executed to the standards and procedure set forth by Oxy and result in safe, efficient, and compliant day to day operations. This individual manages a team of certified pilots and mission specialists, maintains a multi-platform fleet of UAS infrastructure, drives capability development, interfaces with internal stakeholders and is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of actionable inspection data and analytical products to operations, asset integrity, and engineering teams.

Core Responsibilities:

Safety and Compliance

Serve as the primary safety authority for all UAS operations, establishing and enforcing a comprehensive Safety Management System (SMS) aligned with company HSE and Aviation policies and industry best practices.

Ensure full compliance with FAA Part 107 regulations, BVLOS waivers, COAs, and any applicable international aviation authority requirements for cross-border or offshore operations.

Develop, maintain , and enforce UAS-specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Emergency Response Procedures (ERPs), and Mission Risk Assessments (MRAs) for all operation types.

Improve upon and support pre-mission hazard identification and risk mitigation processes, including airspace conflict analysis, weather assessment, electromagnetic interference evaluation, and site-specific hazard reviews.

Maintain thorough incident investigation protocols; lead or delegate root cause analysis and corrective action implementation for any UAS-related incident, near-miss, or equipment loss.

Enforce strict adherence to Process Safety Management (PSM) and OSHA regulations when operating in and around hazardous energy environments (refineries, compressor stations, tank farms, gas plants).

Ensure pilots and crew maintain current certifications, medical fitness (where applicable), and substance abuse compliance per company policy.

Fleet and Asset Management

Own the full lifecycle management of the UAS fleet, including sensor packages and associated payloads.

Establish procurement, maintenance, and end-of-life procedures

Work with management to establish routine refreshes of critical equipment to ensure fleet and mission readiness

Develop and enforce scheduled preventive maintenance programs, component lifecycle tracking (motor hours, prop cycles, battery charge cycles), and mandatory inspection intervals for each platform class.

Oversee firmware and software updates across the fleet, evaluating and validating changes in a controlled test environment prior to operational deployment.

Manage payload inventory including RGB cameras, lighting kits, radiometric thermal imagers, LiDAR scanners, methane/gas detection sensors

Manage secure transport, storage, and readiness of equipment for rapid field deployment including cases, charging infrastructure, and environmental storage requirements.

Maintain insurance documentation and records for all airframes; interface with risk management and aviation as needed.

Pilot Management and Training

Recruit, hire, onboard, and manage a team of FAA Part 107-certified UAS pilots and mission specialists, ensuring adequate coverage for operational demand across multiple simultaneous campaigns.

Develop and administer a structured internal pilot proficiency program encompassing initial qualification, platform type ratings, mission category endorsements, and annual recurrency requirements.

Conduct regular proficiency evaluations, standardization flights, and documented check for all pilots; maintain individual pilot training records and currency logs.

Ensure training programs exists and are available for fleet pilots and staff pilots

Establish a mentorship and career progression pathway for junior pilots to advance to mission-lead and senior pilot roles.

Train pilots and data technicians on data collection protocols, payload operation, sensor calibration, etc.

Identify and manage approved external training providers and recurrency programs to supplement internal capability development.

Administer performance reviews, identify skill gaps, and implement individual development plans for all direct reports as needed.

Foster a culture of continuous learning, safety-first decision-making, and operational excellence across the entire UAS team.

Day-to-Day Operations Management

Oversee and direct all daily UAS flight operations including pre-mission planning, mission execution, post-mission data processing, and associated debriefs.

Coordinate with site operations, mechanical integrity, HSE, pipeline integrity, facilities maintenance, and electrical transmission teams to align drone mission execution with site access, permit-to-work (PTW), and operational windows.

Manage simultaneous field campaigns across multiple asset types and geographies, including remote pipeline corridors, offshore platforms, tank batteries, compressor stations, substations, and transmission towers.

Ensure all flight operations are logged in a digital operations management system, capturing flight hours, battery cycles, anomalies, and personnel records in compliance with FAA and company documentation requirements.

Monitor real-time weather conditions, NOTAMs, TFRs, and airspace status for all active and planned operation areas; make go/no-go decisions with appropriate authority .

Establish and enforce strict pre-flight checklists, mission briefing standards, and post-flight debrief protocols.

Scheduling, Backlog Management & Prioritization

Maintain and communicate a rolling backlog and mission queue integrating requests from multiple internal customers including asset integrity, pipeline operations, electrical transmission, HSE, and engineering.

Design and implement a structured intake and prioritization framework that accounts for regulatory inspection intervals, risk-ranked asset criticality, operational urgency, weather windows, and resource availability.

Build and manage a detailed master schedule for all UAS operations, balancing planned inspection programs, reactive/emergency response deployments, and capability development activities.

Produce monthly and quarterly operational forecasts for crew utilization , flight hours, equipment usage, and data delivery timelines; communicate proactively with stakeholders on scheduling constraints.

Triage and respond to unplanned inspection requests (e.g., leak detection, post-storm damage assessment, pre-turnaround surveys, incident response support) with rapid mobilization capability.

Coordinate with planning and maintenance departments to align UAS access windows with planne