Pyka is looking for a Fleet Maintenance Technician to support the development and commercial deployments of its advanced autonomous aircraft. In this role you will take an active role in the preparation and execution of maintenance for fleet of deployed autonomous aircraft both in the U.S. and worldwide 

Your duties will vary significantly from week to week depending on our flight testing schedules and the needs of our customers. You will perform a wide range of maintenance activities and upgrades on our vehicles, ensuring that all vehicles are ’a go’ before their next test flights. You will also assist flight and customer support operations abroad and review and manage maintenance manual updates. Your work will directly inform engineering decisions on iterations on Pyka aircraft design. Finally, you will often support Pyka’s flight test team with logistics and transportation planning, and occasionally support ground operations during flight test days.

About Pyka

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of fast, environmentally friendly, and accessible transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation.

To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We’re applying our technologies to every industry where electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we’re building useful, game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems. 

Today, we supply our aircraft to agricultural service providers and farmers as an autonomous tool that makes aerial crop protection safer, more targeted and less harmful to surrounding environments. Our vehicles are highly economical to operate and easy to deploy. What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one-step closer each day.

We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes.

We foster a welcoming community within our company that promotes experimentation, asking questions, making simple solutions to complex problems, and expressing different views and opinions. We are a transparent company both internally and externally and do not believe in operating in “stealth mode.” Lastly, we don’t work 60 hour weeks, and don’t expect you to either. In this role you will have a great deal of responsibility, earn a competitive salary and benefits,  and contribute to the development of groundbreaking technology.

Responsibilities

• Assemble and fully ground test Pyka aircraft ahead of flight testing operations
• Repair and test subsystems to verify performance ahead of flight campaigns
• Perform inspections and regular maintenance on Pyka aircraft and systems
• Organize maintenance records and scheduling to help design an efficient maintenance management system
• Maintain and update documentation of maintenance procedures and support ongoing development of Pyka aircraft maintenance manuals
• Provide feedback relating to maintenance and serviceability to Pyka’s engineering teams in order to inform aircraft improvements
• Occasionally support logistics and transportation planning for flight testing operations and customer deliveries
• Maintain and service remote deployed aircraft on a occasional basis, travel internationally to customer locations (1-2 times per quarter)
• Design and administer maintenance training program for flight operations team and operating partners
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• 3–8 years hands-on work with electrical and mechanical systems
• General understanding of autonomous vehicles and typical subsystems (instruments, actuators, on-board computers, etc.)
• Experience with electrical systems and troubleshooting: continuity checks, voltage and current measurements, wiring inspection, including crimps and connectors, functionality checks of instruments by looking at live data or data logs
• Basic high voltage safety knowledge and comfortable working on 120 VDC, 20 ~ 30 kW systems
• Experience inspecting and identifying damage in composite builds and various mechanical components
• Experience maintaining and upgrading safety-critical systems: ability to design and follow appropriate inspection and test plans for sensors, actuators and mechanical systems to ensure quality before putting back into service
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Extreme attention to detail and critical thinking
• Aviation A&P certification is a plus
  
  

Company Perks

• $68,000–$82,000 per year base salary + equity. Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change.
  
  
• Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance, FSA with employer matching, and 401(k)
  
  
• Paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
  
  
• Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks
  
  

Export Control Requirements

This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls. Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items. 

Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.