FPV Drone Operator / Test Pilot
eyesAtop · Northern New Jersey test facility (field travel required) · Full-time · $80,000–$100,000+/yr
**Must live within commuting distance of Mahwah, New Jersey**
About eyesAtop
eyesAtop builds the battle-proven operating platform for multi-drone forces, across any vendor and any mission. Our system lets a single operator coordinate multiple drones across manufacturers, mission types, and contested environments, and it's backed by more than 500,000 frontline operational hours. As we expand our U.S. operations, we're hiring an FPV drone operator to fly, test, and demonstrate our platform in the field.
The Role
You'll be the stick. This is a hands-on flying position: piloting FPV aircraft in manual/acro mode for testing, integration, and live demonstrations; putting new airframes, payloads, and software builds through their paces; and telling our engineers exactly what the aircraft is doing and why. You'll be based at our New Jersey test facility with regular travel to field and flight sites. On non-testing days, you'll work R&D at the facility alongside the engineering team, building and tuning aircraft, integrating new hardware and software, and turning what you learned in the air into product improvements.
What you'll do:
- Fly FPV aircraft (manual/acro mode) for test flights, system integration, and customer demonstrations
- Execute structured flight test plans and document results. You'll notice and report subtle performance issues in aircraft, radio links, and video systems
- On non-testing days, contribute to R&D at our NJ test facility: prototype builds, hardware/software integration, bench testing, and iterating with engineering on findings from flight tests
- Build, repair, and maintain quads: soldering, component swaps, firmware configuration, and tuning
- Review your own DVR footage and flight logs to support engineering feedback
- Support field operations and demos, including travel to off-site locations
What We're Looking For
Required:
- Expert FPV flying in full manual/acro mode (goggles + line-of-sight). This is a hands-on testing and R&D role, not a cinematic or GPS-assisted camera drone position.
- 2+ years of hands-on FPV experience (professional or serious hobbyist/competitive racing/freestyle counts)
- Comfortable building and repairing 5-inch-class and similar quads
- FAA Part 107 certificate, or willingness to obtain within 90 days (we'll cover it)
- U.S. citizenship (required for this position)
- Willingness to travel to field/test sites
Strongly preferred:
- Military experience, especially UAS operations (Army 15W, SUAS operator, Raven/Puma/Switchblade, or Group 1–2 UAS platforms)
- Experience flying in degraded conditions: no GPS, contested RF, and night operations
- Instruction or demo experience. You can teach others to fly and represent the product live.
Pay: $80,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Do you have experience flying in manual/acro mode? If so, approximately how many hours have you flown in these modes, and what was the primary purpose of that flight experience?
Work Location: In person