Director of Platform Engineering

DroneUp, LLC is a technology company built on years of complex airspace management and UAS operations experience with a foundation that uniquely positions us to deliver autonomous airspace management solutions that serve both regulators and operators.

It is a company with a vision to make autonomous flight great for communities, great for business, and great for the world. Yet more than visionaries; we have the tools, instruments, focus, and expertise to execute while utilizing a “People Matter Most” mentality.

Our founder envisioned a massive, untapped opportunity to leverage autonomous flight that would revolutionize how the world may "pitch" and "roll" in the future. To start, we have harnessed the power of airspace technology, analytics platforms, and drone services to transform business operations. Our long-term mission is to be “Safe and Be Exceptional” while building and deploying the world's most accessible drone ecosystem.

Knowing that our mission critical success comes directly from the people we bring onboard, we strive to provide opportunities for our employees to learn, grow, and go beyond the normal Field of View! Come fly with us as our team goes through our checklists that will “Inspire Fast Action” and take an entire industry to new heights. “Be a Person Others Want to Follow!”

About the role

• Our Internal Developer Platform is how we give engineers "golden paths" to production—self-service infrastructure that lets them focus on business logic instead of fighting tickets and YAML. As Director of Platform Engineering, you will own the strategy, team, and execution that makes this vision real.
• You will lead a team building cloud-native, self-service solutions while balancing security, compliance, and developer experience. We use AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot) across engineering, and expect platform leadership to enable their effective and secure adoption.

What you'll do

I. Platform Strategy and Ownership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive platform engineering strategy aligned with business goals.
• Serve as the internal "Product Owner" for the platform, focusing on enhancing the developer experience through tooling and automation.
• Define the technical vision and oversee the design/architecture of scalable, secure platform components and services.
• Identify, prioritize, and drive platform features and enhancements based on internal customer needs and data.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and evaluate their potential impact and value to the platform.

II. Leadership, Collaboration, and Excellence

• Collaborate with engineering and product leaders to define technical initiatives and ensure cross-functional alignment.
• Communicate platform strategy, progress, and outcomes to executive leadership and stakeholders.
• Drive continuous improvement in platform engineering processes and foster a collaborative culture.
• Ensure the consistent application of engineering best practices, coding standards, and quality assurance.
• Monitor platform performance, reliability, and scalability, proactively addressing challenges.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (advanced degree preferred).
• Experience as a software engineer is preferred
• Proven track record of successfully leading and managing engineering teams in technology-driven environments that move with urgency while prioritizing sustainable practices.
• Extensive experience in software development, architecture, and technical leadership.
• Strong understanding of product ownership principles, with the ability to balance technical decisions with business priorities.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
• Deep knowledge of cloud computing, microservices architecture, and modern software development practices.
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.
• Ability to adapt to change and lead through ambiguity, while maintaining a focus on results.

Security Responsibility Statement:  Employees are expected to provide a high level of security to any personal or private information accessed as part of their work, whether at a DroneUp facility or remotely.  This includes participating in security training, remaining sensitive to individual rights to personal privacy, and complying with company policies. Employees who have access to sensitive data that is protected by regulation, such as HIPAA, or by contract, such as credit card data, must comply with any additional requirements dictated by the governing regulations or associated contracts.