Manager, UAS Platform Engineer

Location: Salt Lake City, UT, United States; Workplace: On-site

Company

hirify.global develops cloud-seeding technologies that combine weather-resistant UAS, radar, satellite observations, numerical weather prediction, sensing, validation systems, and sustainable seeding methods to increase freshwater availability.

What you will do

• Guide UAS platform development from requirements and configuration definition through aircraft design, build, first flight, and qualification.
• Develop propulsion, powertrain, performance, sizing, stability, energy, endurance, and range models for real wind and gust conditions.
• Evaluate and qualify motors, propellers, ESCs, and battery systems against endurance, thermal, and performance-margin requirements.
• Own GNC architecture, estimator configuration, sensor selection, and PID or gain tuning across rotorcraft and fixed-wing platforms.
• Design and execute flight-test campaigns, including test plans, instrumentation, risk mitigation, envelope expansion, log analysis, and reporting.
• Lead and mentor the testing and quality assurance function, establishing standards across flight testing and vehicle qualification.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• At least 5 years of unmanned-aircraft development experience, including taking a platform from initial concept to a flying, qualified vehicle.
• Hands-on experience with aircraft sizing, performance analysis, propulsion selection, and modeling motor RPM and torque under environmental conditions.
• Experience tuning GNC systems on multirotor or fixed-wing aircraft and working with PX4 or ArduPilot.
• Experience writing and executing structured flight-test campaigns, including new-airframe envelope expansion, and building or leading testing and QA teams.
• FAA Part 107 certificate and willingness to deploy to the field for extended periods, including OCONUS assignments.

Nice to have

• Experience operating UAS under waivers and in BVLOS conditions.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on technologies intended to improve freshwater availability and make the planet more habitable.
• Join an early-stage team that values technical rigor, grit, integrity, learning, and course-correction.
• Meaningful stock options and the opportunity to help shape hirify.global as an early team member.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus a 401(k) with employer matching.
• Unlimited PTO, paid parental leave for both parents, and relocation assistance for eligible roles.