Senior UAV Flight Test Engineer

Senior UAS Flight Test & Assurance Engineer - Yorkshire (Permanent)Salary: £62,000 | Start: Aug-Sep 2026 | Onsite / HybridNo visa sponsorship is available. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK.We're hiring a senior, hands-on flight test and assurance engineer to plan and deliver UAS test campaigns and produce the evidence needed for operational approvals. This role blends practical flight-test execution with strong test discipline (plans, readiness, reporting) and the ability to translate assurance / safety / regulatory expectations into usable, traceable test evidence. Longer term, there's scope to grow into V&V leadership as the programme scales.What you'll doPlan and deliver ground, integration and flight-test campaignsWrite and maintain test plans, test cards, procedures, readiness reviews, risk controls and post-test reportsTurn safety, assurance and operational approval requirements into practical test evidenceSupport regulator-facing technical discussions alongside internal regulatory/airspace leadsCoordinate deployments: sites, equipment, logistics, test asset readiness and operational planningDrive credible evidence for software-enabled functions (e.g., autonomy-related claims, detect-and-avoid mitigations)Identify pragmatic tools / COTS systems that reduce test and assurance risk, time and costHelp build scalable validation and verification practices for future programme maturityWhat we're looking forStrong background in flight test, test engineering, UAS operations, aviation assurance, airworthiness, or safety-critical systems testingPractical experience planning and executing tests in the field (not just office-based planning)Confident running readiness reviews, hazard controls and evidence generation / reportingAble to read, interpret and apply aviation regulatory / operational approval materialStrong judgement, high ownership, and clear written communicationNice to haveUAS / novel aircraft / autonomous aircraft test programme experienceFamiliarity with SORA / SAIL and CAA/EASA-style approval environmentsExperience with autonomy assurance, collision-risk modelling, simulation, safety cases, or software-enabled safety functionsExperience building a test / flight-test / V&V function as a programme growsTPBN1_UKTJ