NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission at the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its Jan. 18 flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage […]
Russia launched a barrage of 40 cruise, aero-ballistic, and ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities on January 13. Eight of them were shot down, while more than two dozen exploded before reaching their intended targets, largely due to Ukrainian electronic warfare (EW). Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat subsequently urged local authorities to invest in civilian-grade […]
Ukrainian soldiers have found an almost fully intact Shahed-136, a kamikaze-type drone that is used by the Russian military for conducting strikes on critical infrastructure and civilian targets. This well-preserved drone was found in a field following the recent extensive Russian massive, combined air attack on Ukraine. Judging from the available images, it appears that […]
In this article we will discuss the similarities and one major difference between the Mini 2 SE and Mini 2 as well as why the Mini 2 SE is right for you.
MightyFly Unveils Third Generation Cento Cargo Drone for Autonomous Same-Day Deliveries MightyFly, a pioneer in autonomous aerial logistics, introduced its latest cargo drone, the 2024 Cento aircraft, marking the third generation of the MF100 eVTOL series. The unveiling ceremony took place at the company’s headquarters in San Leandro, CA, on January 25, 2024. The 2024 […]
If you’re looking for a new job in 2024, the drone industry is hiring. Sure, many drone companies have been crumbling of late.
PrecisionHawk is among the largest to shut down, declaring bankruptcy and closing its offices in Raleigh, North Carolina. But that single example (as a few others) hardly means the drone industry is struggling. In fact, the drone industry is set to grow.
“Spurred by developments from war zones to more reasonable drone legislation and BVLOS becoming easier, the drone economy across all sectors is simply going to keep growing,” said Mary-Lou Smulders, chief marketing officer at Dedrone. Dedrone builds counter-drone and drone detection technology, and it’s one of the many companies in the drone industry that is hiring.
Here at The Drone Girl, we’ve been poking around the listings for jobs in 2024 to find the companies that are hiring en masse, or simply have incredibly interesting job postings that readers like you might find interesting. Perhaps, they’re interesting enough to apply for.
So with that, here are 9 drone companies that either have tons of job listings posted right now, or that have opened some especially unique jobs in 2024. Or, in some cases, they’ve done both.
If you need a new drone job in 2024, start looking at the below companies:
Job opening(s): Drone Builder, Electrical Engineer and Product Specialist
If building drones from sunny Florida sounds like a dream come true, it could be your reality. GetFPV, which is one of the leading retailers of FPV and racing drone gear, has a few interesting roles.
The Drone Builder and Electrical Engineer roles have been open for a while now, but the Product Specialist role was posted over the past month. In that role, you’d need to be an expert in all of the gear on GetFPV’s website, where you’d then write product descriptions, take their photos and market them. Sounds like a great kick for people with writing skills who live and breathe FPV and racing drones.
Job opening(s): Part-time flight instructor position
Here’s a great gig for a drone expert who is only looking for something part-time, or perhaps who wants to augment an existing gig with a side hustle.
UAV Coach, which is primarily known for its online Part 107 course, also offers in-person drone classes. You might end up being the teacher of one of them, should you land this neat gig. This is a part-time, independent contractor role. In it, you’ll likely teach 1-2 small group or private drone flying sessions, each lasting a few hours.
We’ve been more closely watching Aloft ever since we learned that Aloft would end its partnership with the FAA specifically around supporting its B4UFly app. Why? To instead build out a new (and supposedly better) app called Air Aware.
Air Aware is set to be a robust app that offers drone pilots real-time insights of the airspace they’re flying in before, during, and after drone operations. It was created in a partnership with Pilot Institute. Pilot Institute runs online courses centered around drones and airplanes. They’re primarily designed to help students pass the Part 107 test or the Private Pilot exam.
Plans for such a robust app call for engineering talent. Given that, there are nearly a dozen open engineering roles, either in-person at its San Francisco headquarters or remote.
Adam Bry, Skydio CEO and Co-Founder, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks tour Skydio’s drone manufacturing facility in Hayward, California. (Photo: Sierra Sarino, Skydio)
Skydio
Location: San Mateo, California and Boston, Massachusetts
Job opening(s): Dozen across R&D, manufacturing, marketing and sales
That’s clearly led to dozens of job openings, most of which are based in its headquarters in San Mateo, California, which is a suburb of San Francisco. There are jobs for almost any skill set, ranging from software and hardware engineers to factory jobs. There are also open roles in marketing and sales.
Senator Mitt Romney visits Teal’s factory in Utah. Photo courtesy of Red Cat.
Teal
Location: South Salt Lake, Utah
Job opening(s): Engineering and design
Teal has followed a similar path to Skydio, ditching its visions of consumer drones in favor of building industrial and military drones. Its flagship product is Teal 2, a drone designed to fly at night (which is critical for military operations).
At the end of December 2023, it posted three open roles: Embedded Linux Software Engineer, Senior Mechanical Engineer and CAD Librarian/PCB Layout Designer.
Location: U.S. (California; Washington, D.C.; Bentonville, Arkansas; Concord, North Carolina), Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda
Job opening(s): Dozen across engineering, manufacturing, finance, flight operations and more. Internships also available.
Zipline earned the title of largest drone delivery company in 2023. If the dozens of Zipline job openings are any indication, it’ll maintain that title into 2024.
Zipline first started using drones to make deliveries in 2016, where it transported blood and medical products through Rwanda. It quickly grew to offer deliveries in other developing countries, though it has also recently expanded to offer delivery service in the U.S., too.
Zipline made some major improvements in March 2023 when it launched an all new drone delivery platform called Platform 2 (P2). P2 was a game changer in making its drones easier to load while also allowing them to remain farther away from people (which subsequently makes them seem quieter). Other recent Zipline news includes a partnership with Europe’s National Health Service, which is the largest employer in Europe.
Currently it’s got all sorts of open roles around the U.S., which include its South San Francisco headquarters. There are also roles open near some of Zipline’s early service sites including Abuja, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana and Kigali, Rwanda.
Job opening(s): Drone pilot, engineer, marketing, people, legal and finance. Internships also available.
In an attempt to keep pace with Zipline, Wing is also hiring. Wing is Zipline’s closest competitor, though it primarily operates its drone flights in Canberra, Australia and Dallas, Texas. It also happens to be hiring drone pilot roles in those places.
While there aren’t quite as many open positions, it has some interesting roles, including internships.
Like Zipline, Wing transformed its operations in 2023. Also in March, it launched a new piece of hardware called Autoloader, designed to support the Wing Delivery Network. The Wing Delivery Network makes it easier for drones to pick up, drop off, travel, and charge in whatever pattern makes the most sense for the entire system.
Location: Phoenix, Arizona; Dallas and Austin, Texas and India
Job opening(s): Drone pilots and data analysts
Zeitview made big waves just about this time last year. In January 2023, the company known as DroneBase underwent a rebrand to become Zeitview. While committed to being an aerial data analytics company, the rebrand meant that Zeitview was able to expand beyond just drones.
At the time, it also announced a new $55 million funding round. That’s likely been a key factor in enabling Zeitview to post so many new roles. Many, such as the Dallas-based Drone Pilot & Field Data Capture Specialist gig, are perfectly-suited to Part 107-certified pilots.
Location: Kassel, Germany; Phoenix, Arizona; Sterling, Virginia
Job opening(s): Engineering, product and business operations
Dedrone might be considered an anti-drone company, depending on who you ask. Its employees, though, are called Dronies. Dedrone builds hardware and software for airspace security. That includes AI-driven software in tandem with sensors and effectors — all to detect, track, identify and mitigate drones flying in places that they shouldn’t be.
Know of any other interesting drone jobs in 2024? Share them in the commentsand help the community land a new drone job in 2024!
By the way, if you found this post (or any of our past posts) helpful, please consider making a financial contribution to The Drone Girl! The Drone Girl team works every day to give you the latest drone news, tips and reviews. This is our job, and we rely on donations like yours to make it happen! Thanks in advance!
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) conducted the first flight of the Gray Eagle 25M (GE-25M) Unmanned Aircraft System at its El Mirage, Calif. flight facility on December 5, 2023. The first flight marks a significant milestone in the Gray Eagle modernization program as the U.S. Army continues to develop the Multi-Domain Operations (MDO)-capable GE-25Ms […]
Tawazun Council, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) defence acquisitions authority for the country’s Ministry of Defense, has announced the signing of five deals with local and international companies with total value Dh970m ($264.3m) during the opening day of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) in Abu Dhabi. Detailing the deals in a 23 January release, Tawazun […]
Billionaire technologist Eric Schmidt has been quietly building a new drone startup in the U.S. and Ukraine within a nesting doll of LLCs that have helped to conceal its operations and team members. Forbes first reported the project’s existence this month and has since learned that it is called White Stork, a reference to the national bird […]
Archer Aviation Inc., a manufacturer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced that it has signed a Space Act Agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The collaboration will kick off with an initial project focused on studying high-performance battery cells and safety testing targeted for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and […]
NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission at the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its Jan. 18 flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage […]
