Description
As the Drone Operations Manager for UK & Ireland, you are a player-coach who will stand up our drone delivery operation in the region from nothing.
You will personally fly on a regular basis, as a working pilot, while you build the team, find and fit out the operating sites, and help take us through UK CAA and/or Irish Aviation Authority (IAA)/EASA authorisation.
Responsibilities
Fly and Operate
- Fly as a pilot in command on a regular rota: aircraft acceptance and commissioning flights, proving flights for the regulator, and live delivery operations.
- Run pre-flight and post-flight checks, site and airspace checks, weather go/no-go decisions, battery and payload handling, and flight logging in line with the Operations Manual.
- Act as visual observer, payload operator or flight supervisor as needed, and be on the ground at launch and landing sites during operations.
- Keep your own pilot competency, currency, recurrent training and flight records up to date, to the standard you set for the team.
- Lead incident, accident and occurrence response in the field and file regulator reports (CAA mandatory occurrence reporting / IAA-EASA equivalent) and run the follow-up investigation.
Build the Team
- Recruit, hire and onboard the first pilots, ops technicians, visual observers, maintenance staff and the nominated safety/compliance post-holders.
- Write the training syllabus and run initial and recurrent training, including practical flight checks, competency assessments, emergency drills and currency tracking.
- Build the duty roster, flight-time and fatigue limits, and on-call coverage.
Find and Build the Sites
- Scout and secure launch/landing sites, hubs and maintenance space near merchant partners. Walk the sites, survey obstacles, flight paths, ground risk and operational suitability, and negotiate access, leases and landowner permissions.
- Oversee on-site fit-out: workshop space, battery charging and storage (including fire protection and lithium battery storage rules), power and connectivity, security, landing pads, signage, first aid and fire equipment.
- Own the launch plan, budget, vendors and timeline for each site.
- Lead local community and stakeholder engagement for each site (neighbours, local authorities), including noise and privacy concerns.
- Work with the aircraft provider and engineering on site layout, charging, battery swap and loading equipment.
Regulatory Authorisation and Compliance
- Run the Safety Management System (SMS): hazard reporting, risk assessments, safety reviews, audits and corrective actions.
- Be the day-to-day contact for the CAA, IAA and air navigation service providers, including audits, inspections and flight demonstrations.
Scale the Operation
- Track flight, delivery and reliability metrics and use them to improve procedures, rotas and site layouts.
- Work with the commercial operations lead to match merchant demand to flight capacity.
- Work with the US drone operations team to adapt proven processes to the UK/Ireland regulatory environment.
Requirements
- Current remote pilot qualifications and significant hands-on UAS flight experience (including BVLOS or complex operations), with a CAA or EASA-recognised pilot competency (e.g. A2 CofC, GVC/OSC-level, or national equivalent).
- Experience holding or managing UK CAA Operational Authorisations and/or EASA Specific category authorisations (or LUC).
- Proven ability to write and enforce SOPs, checklists and Operations Manuals.
- Working knowledge of UK CAA / IAA / EASA regulations, SORA, airspace and compliance frameworks.
- Experience leading and training pilots, and starting up or scaling flight operations.
- Practical experience setting up an operating site: finding space, working with landlords, contractors and local authorities, and handling battery storage and site safety.
- Background in risk assessment, SMS, and emergency response.
- Willingness to work in the field in all weather, including early mornings, evenings and weekends, as operations require.