AutoPylot is one of the largest and most trusted FAA-approved platforms for mission planning and airspace authorization for drone pilots in the United States. As an FAA-authorized UAS Service Supplier (USS)of B4UFLY and LAANC, we operate infrastructure that directly interfaces with federal aviation systems and processes a meaningful share of U.S. drone airspace authorizations every month. We are venture-backed, revenue-generating, and operating real infrastructure used by drone pilots nationwide. Now we’re bringing engineering fully in-house and looking for a Technical Co-Founder to own the next phase of platform scale.

This is not a standard engineering role. This is a builder-leader position with meaningful ownership.

The Opportunity

You will:

Define and own AutoPylot’s technical direction and long-term platform architecture
Take over and evolve an existing production system
Strengthen performance, reliability, and scalability
Lead the transition from outsourced development to internal engineering
Establish long-term engineering standards and best practices
Hire and mentor additional engineers as we grow

You’ll work directly with the founder on roadmap, product evolution, infrastructure decisions, and long-term platform strategy.

This is a hands-on role. You will be writing code.

What You’ll Be Working With

AutoPylot is a modern, TypeScript-based, serverless architecture built on AWS.

High-level stack includes:

TypeScript (Node.js, ESM)
Serverless AWS architecture (Lambda, API Gateway)
DynamoDB (with event-driven patterns)
SQS/SNS for async processing
React + Ionic (mobile + web)
Capacitor (iOS/Android packaging)
Mapbox (geospatial visualization)
Auth0 (OAuth2 / OIDC)
RevenueCat (subscriptions)
CI/CD via GitHub Actions
Automated end-to-end testing
Event-driven FAA system integrations

You do not need prior aviation experience, but you must be comfortable working in regulated, reliability-sensitive environments.

What We’re Looking For

Required

7+ years building production software systems
Deep experience with TypeScript or strongly typed backend systems
Experience designing and scaling serverless or cloud-native architectures (AWS preferred)
Strong understanding of:
- Distributed systems
- Event-driven architectures
- Asynchronous workflows
- API design (REST)
Experience in making architecture decisions end-to-end
Experience taking a system from its current state to a materially higher scale (performance, reliability, or complexity).
Comfort operating in environments where uptime, reliability, and correctness matter
Strong database design experience (NoSQL and/or relational)
Ability to transition into technical leadership and build a small engineering team

Strongly Preferred

Experience scaling SaaS platforms from growth stage to scale stage
Experience working with regulated or compliance-heavy systems (fintech, healthcare, gov, aviation)
Experience building mobile/web hybrid applications
Familiarity with authentication systems (OAuth2 / JWT)
Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated test coverage
Experience mentoring engineers or leading small teams

Bonus

Geospatial systems experience
API platform or developer ecosystem experience
Experience replacing outsourced teams with in-house engineering
Experience in aviation, mapping, or infrastructure-heavy domains
AI/data platform exposure
UAS Part 107 or another pilot’s license a plus

What This Is Not

Not a pure management role
Not a “CTO who doesn’t code” role
Not a corporate process-heavy environment

We are looking for a technical owner who can both design the system and ship features. This is an opportunity to build and scale infrastructure that directly interfaces with federal aviation systems and supports a rapidly growing drone ecosystem.

Compensation

Competitive base compensation plus meaningful founder-level equity. Structured to align long-term incentives and ownership.
Fully remote, Northeast preferred (U.S. only due to FAA requirements)

See more open positions at AutoPylot

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