Description
About The RoleDraganfly Innovations Inc. is looking for a Director, Field Operations to lead customer-facing field operations, including demonstrations, training deployments, mission SMEs, flight standards, and operational support across military, public safety, and commercial programs.
This role translates strategic priorities into consistent, scalable field execution while building strong processes, maintaining operational standards, and supporting growth without compromising safety, quality, or customer experience.
Success is measured by operational readiness, team performance, customer satisfaction, program delivery, and the ability to preserve Draganfly's strong operational culture as the organization scales.
Key Responsibilities: Field Team Leadership & Execution
- Lead, mentor, and develop Field Team Managers across military, law enforcement, commercial, and flight standards teams.
- Own field readiness, including certifications, platform proficiency, deployment standards, resource planning, scheduling, and field equipment inventory.
- Ensure high-quality execution of demonstrations, deployments, customer training, and operational support across all verticals and regions.
- Act as the escalation point for field-related customer issues and operational blockers.
- Partner with PMO, Sales, Product Experience, and Service Operations to align bandwidth and support predictable operations.
Field Intelligence & Product Feedback Loop
- Oversee structured feedback from field missions, demos, and training events.
- Deliver actionable insights to Product, Engineering, and Strategy to support roadmap, reliability, and feature improvements.
- Ensure field teams report on system performance, customer pain points, and environmental challenges.
Operational Excellence & Process Development
- Develop and enforce operational standards, SOPs, risk controls, and continuous improvement initiatives while ensuring regulatory and safety compliance.
- Improve training, demos, field readiness, and program deployment processes.
- Ensure a smooth handoff between field deployment and ongoing service or flight operations.
- Partner with Product Experience to ensure customer insights inform product roadmap and system improvements.
- Support Sales and Marketing by aligning field resources to strategic opportunities, major events, showcases, and field-focused content.
Who are you really?- You are a proven people leader who builds, develops, and motivates high-performing field teams.
- You thrive in fast-paced environments and can turn strategy into disciplined execution.
- You bring strong UAS operational knowledge and a commitment to safety, quality, and excellence.
- You are organized, process-driven, and able to scale operations while maintaining consistency.
- You collaborate well across Sales, Product, Engineering, PMO, and Operations.
- You are customer-focused, solutions-oriented, and comfortable solving complex operational challenges.
Qualifications: - 10+ years of operational leadership experience in UAS, aviation, defense, or complex technical field operations.
- Experience leading cross-functional, customer-facing teams in high-demand environments.
- Strong understanding of UAS flight operations, mission planning, regulations, and field risk management.
- Proven ability to build scalable processes, structure teams, and manage multi-vertical deployments.
- Strong communication, leadership, and crisis management skills.
- Ability to build a collaborative, team-focused culture.
- Ability to travel 20-30%, depending on program requirements.
Nice to Have
- Military aviation, UAS, SOCOM, or defense contractor experience.
- Experience with ISR systems, tactical UAS, public safety operations, or enterprise drone programs.
- Familiarity with FAA Part 107, Transport Canada RPAS, BVLOS waivers, public safety COAs, or airworthiness frameworks.
- Experience in a hardware/software startup or dual-use defense tech company.
Compensation package- Competitive salary: $130,000 - $150,000 USD
- Health Coverage Reimbursement: We reimburse the cost of your existing or preferred healthcare plan (amount varies depending on family size).
- 401(k) program with employer matching
- Generous time-off program, including vacation, wellness days, and the week off between Christmas and New Year's.
- Professional development support, including assistance toward obtaining your FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate or equivalent training as required for operational roles
As part of our hiring process, all candidates must successfully complete reference checks and a criminal background check.
