UAS Drone Pilot III - Torrance, California

Overview

Acuren is recruiting a Senior UAS Pilot III to support electrical infrastructure inspections in Torrance, California. The role leads advanced aerial missions, manages UAS operations in complex environments, interprets inspection data, mentors junior pilots, and champions UAS operational excellence across the program.

Responsibilities

• Lead mission planning for complex inspection operations (large transmission corridors, energized lines, remote / off‑grid substations, difficult terrain), including risk assessments, airspace coordination, emergency procedures, and payload configuration.
• Operate advanced UAS platforms and payloads, including BVLOS operations under company / regulatory policy, optimizing sensor suites for electrical infrastructure inspection (visual, thermal, LiDAR, corrosion sensors).
• Oversee pre‑flight inspections and operational readiness, verifying UAS systems, sensor calibration, redundancy plans, and safety checklists.
• Conduct high‑quality data capture for inspection of towers, lines, and substations, detecting anomalies such as conductor vibration, hot spots, tower corrosion, insulator flashover risk, and tower hardware stress.
• Lead post‑flight data processing workflow, ensuring imagery / sensor data is properly ingested, triaged, annotated, and delivered, and prepare detailed inspection reports for engineering and asset management teams.
• Drive decision‑making by collaborating with engineers to prioritize maintenance, support defect classification, estimate repair urgency, and contribute to asset life‑cycle management strategies.
• Manage and maintain UAS fleet, defining maintenance schedules, upgrade paths, sensor integration, and budget planning for UAS operations.
• Train, mentor, and certify junior pilots (Levels I & II), developing training curriculum, ensuring compliance with SOPs, best practices, and operational safety culture.
• Develop and refine operational SOPs, safety protocols, regulatory compliance frameworks (FAA waivers, airspace, site‑specific authorizations), and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Represent the UAS inspection program to stakeholders (utility clients, regulatory bodies, internal leadership), communicating findings, metrics, safety performance, cost savings, and risk mitigation.

Qualifications & Skills

Benefits

Working Conditions

Physical Demands

Equal Employment Opportunity

We commit to an equal employment opportunity workplace. Consideration for employment is based upon personal capabilities and qualifications without discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established by applicable law.

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