FPV Drone Operator
The future of defense will be decided by those who field intelligent machines at scale. At Scout, we’re developing Fury, the first robotic foundation model for defense, to give U.S. forces overwhelming, adaptable, and autonomous power across every domain. Fury enables human operators to command fleets of robots through natural language, and empowers those machines to sense, decide, and act together as one. It’s not just a leap in autonomy, it’s a force multiplier built for real-world conflict. This mission will ask everything of us: urgency, precision, and relentless work.
The Role
We are seeking expert FPV Drone Operators who live on the sticks. You will spend your weeks at our 25sqkm test facility, flying high-performance FPV systems to test our autonomy models in real-world, high-intensity scenarios. This isn’t a standard commercial drone job; we need someone with the skills and technical depth of a competitive racer or freestyle pilot who can pilot drones.
Responsibilities
- Mission Readiness: Conduct pre-flight and post-flight inspections to ensure every system is airworthy for high-stakes testing.
- Data Collection: Log precise flight hours, mission data, and provide expert feedback to the AI and hardware teams.
- High-Intensity Flight: Execute advanced FPV flight maneuvers to stress-test our autonomy and sensor suites in diverse mission scenarios.
- Tactical Testing: Support engineers by flying complex flight paths that simulate real-world missions.
- Field Maintenance: Perform field-level repairs including soldering, motor swaps, and frame rebuilding to keep the fleet flying.
Qualifications
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate (or ability to obtain within X days, if you want flexibility).
- Hands-on experience operating drones in training, testing, or mission environments; strong airmanship and safety-first mindset.
- Deep familiarity with small UAS platforms - an active drone hobbyist with significant stick time on FPV airframes.
- Working knowledge of the full UAV hardware stack: airframes, motors/props, ESCs, flight controllers, power systems (LiPo/BEC), payloads, GPS/compass, radios/receivers, antennas, and video/telemetry links.
- Comfortable with flight controller configuration concepts and common toolchains/firmware (e.g., ArduPilot, PX4) including calibration, receiver setup, flight modes, and failsafe/RTH configuration.
- Ability to perform field-level maintenance, troubleshooting, and repairs, including component swaps, basic wiring/soldering, firmware updates, and root-cause isolation.
- Strong technical skills with UAV hardware, electronics, and ground control systems.
- Comfortable working outdoors in a variety of conditions and environments.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to safe operating practices (checklists, airspace awareness, battery safety, and risk management).
- Ability to lift, transport, and set up drone systems and support equipment.
Why Join Scout
- Work on the world’s most important frontier, ensuring U.S. and allied dominance in the age of intelligent machines
- Be a core part of a team building the first defense-specific robotic foundation model
- Collaborate with some of the top engineers in autonomy, AI, and national security
- See your work deployed on real systems
- Help define the future of intelligent defense systems
- Backed by Draper Associates, Booz Allen Ventures, and other top national security investors
Job Type: Contract
Pay: $30.00 - $40.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
