Cranfield – Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) Chief Pilot
£40,000 to £50,000 per annum, dependent on experience,
(37.5 hours per week)
Cranfield Airport is a commercial, GA, and research airport situated in Class G airspace situated between Bedford and the City of Milton Keynes with a 1799m runway that can accommodate business jets such as the Falcon, Gulfstream, and Boeing Business Jet. Cranfield Airport’s Air Traffic Control has a fully digital control tower. Cranfield Airport is wholly owned by and located at Cranfield University.
Cranfield operates a range of drones & uncrewed aerial vehicles including multi-rotor, fixed-wing, and hybrid VTOL, which can be both off the shelf, privately built, and experimental.
The UAS Chief Pilot will be responsible to the UAS Manager for the safe and secure operation, remote pilot competency, and continued airworthiness of all Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS), Drones and Remotely Piloted Aerial Vehicles that are operated on behalf of Cranfield University within the Airport’s Air Traffic Zone or elsewhere.
The role will entail working with Airport staff including Air Traffic Controllers, University academic staff, the CAA, and industry collaborators, in the creation and compliance of existing and new operational procedures and safety cases that enable enhanced (e.g. BVLOS) operations alongside normal Airport operations. Compliance with CAP 722 plus other existing and future relevant legislation is fundamental.
We offer a challenging and varied working environment as part of a Global Research Airport and University, which includes collaborating on projects such as the UKRI Future Flight Challenge.
Co-funded by Research England, an industry consortium of leading aviation organisations and Cranfield University, the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) is a £67 million investment in state-of-the-art facilities that will leverage both the University’s own research airport and its newly opened autonomous vehicle research facility.
DARTeC opened in 2021 and will initially focus on five primary research challenges within an organisational resilience framework that individually have direct relevance to the digital agenda, and collectively provide the opportunity to explore and address systems integration challenges through advances in technology, intelligence, regulatory frameworks and business models:
- Connected Systems
- Uncrewed Traffic Management
- Seamless Passenger Experience
- Distributed Airport/Airspace Management
- Conscious Aircraft
Aviation and technically-minded candidates with a full (fixed-wind and multi-rotor) General Visual Certificate (GVC) are encouraged to apply.
Remotely-piloted fixed-wing experience is essential.
Conventional (crewed) pilot experience would be very beneficial.
Strong aviation knowledge will be essential given the primary operating environment at an Airport (i.e., Aviation law / meteorology, RT, Human Factors etc.)
The continued airworthiness requirement will require knowledge and maintenance experience of technical systems, such as mechanical structures, flight controllers, battery management, electronics, software, and radio systems.
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Alex Williamson, UAS Manager on (E); alex.a.williamson@cranfield.ac.uk
Apply online now at https://jobs.cranfield.ac.uk or contact us for further details on E: hr@cranfield.ac.uk. Please quote reference number 4082
Closing date for receipt of applications: 25 June 2022
