Senior Technical Manager – UAV Programs

Design, Development, Systems Engineering & Industrialisation

Location: Panvel / Taloja, Maharashtra

Employment Type: Full-time | On-site

Function: Aerospace & Defence – UAV Programs

About Ecoearth Solutions

Ecoearth Solutions Private Limited is an advanced engineering and manufacturing company with expertise in lightweight structures, advanced materials, composites, aluminium and aramid honeycomb technologies and precision manufacturing.

As part of the expansion of our Aerospace & Defence business, we are building an integrated in-house capability for the design, development, testing and manufacture of advanced UAV platforms and associated technologies.

We are looking for an experienced Senior Technical Manager – UAV Programs who can take ownership of UAV development programmes from concept to prototype, flight testing and production.

The Role

This is a hands-on technical leadership position, not a conventional project-management role.

The selected candidate will be responsible for converting UAV concepts and operational requirements into engineered, tested and manufacturable products.

The role requires someone who can lead multidisciplinary engineering teams covering air vehicle design, structures, aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics, electronics, embedded systems, flight controls, software integration, prototyping, testing and manufacturing.

The individual should be capable of building engineering teams, establishing sound development processes and taking complete technical ownership of assigned UAV programmes.

Key Responsibilities

Translate product and operational requirements into system requirements, technical specifications and complete UAV architectures.

Take ownership of UAV programmes from conceptual design through detailed engineering, prototype manufacture, system integration, ground testing, flight testing and production readiness.

Lead conceptual, preliminary and detailed design of fixed-wing, VTOL, hybrid and other UAV configurations, depending on programme requirements.

Build, lead and mentor multidisciplinary engineering teams covering:

Aerodynamics and aircraft performance

Airframe and structural engineering

Composite and lightweight structures

Propulsion and power systems

Avionics and electronics

Embedded systems

Flight-control systems

Navigation and communication systems

Electrical architecture

Ground-control systems

Manufacturing and production engineering

Establish the overall system architecture and interface definition between airframe, propulsion, electronics, flight-control, communication and other onboard systems.

Lead CAD modelling, engineering drawings, detailed design, BOM development and design release.

Drive engineering trade-offs involving weight, payload, endurance, performance, stability, reliability, manufacturability, cost and maintainability.

Lead development of UAV electronics architecture including power distribution, sensors, onboard computing, flight-control hardware and associated integration.

Coordinate development of embedded and flight-control software with relevant internal engineering teams.

Own prototype development including fabrication, tooling, jigs, fixtures, assembly and integration.

Plan and lead

Component testing

Subsystem testing

Hardware-in-loop/system integration testing as applicable

Ground testing

Structural and functional testing

Flight-test campaigns

Establish measurable test and verification criteria before trials.

Analyse failures and flight-test observations and drive root-cause analysis, corrective engineering actions and design improvements.





Establish formal engineering reviews including requirements reviews, preliminary design reviews, critical design reviews, prototype-readiness reviews and flight-test-readiness reviews.

Implement robust configuration management and engineering-change control covering CAD, drawings, BOMs, hardware, software and test configurations.

Convert successful prototypes into production-ready products through:

DFM/DFA

Process definition

Production tooling

Assembly procedures

Inspection criteria

Quality plans

Work instructions

Production-line layout and planning

Lead technical evaluation and selection of components, materials, manufacturing processes and suppliers.

Develop indigenous design alternatives wherever strategically and technically appropriate.

Support applicable quality, airworthiness, certification and customer acceptance activities.

Maintain programme schedules, engineering milestones, development budgets, technical risks and resource plans.

Build engineering capability and processes that enable Ecoearth to run multiple UAV development programmes concurrently.

Candidate Profile

Education

B.E./B.Tech or higher in:

Aerospace Engineering

Aeronautical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Mechatronics Engineering

Electronics / Electrical Engineering with significant UAV systems experience or a closely related discipline.

M.Tech/MS is desirable but not mandatory where strong practical UAV development experience is demonstrated.

Experience

We are ideally looking for candidates with:

8–15 years of engineering/product-development experience.

Preferably 5+ years directly involved in UAV/UAS, autonomous-aircraft or aircraft development programmes.

Demonstrable experience taking at least one UAV or complex aerospace product substantially through:

Requirement → Design → Prototype → Integration → Ground Test → Flight Test → Design Iteration

Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Experience transitioning prototypes toward repeatable manufacturing or serial production.

Experience taking direct technical responsibility for engineering decisions rather than only coordinating schedules.

Exceptional candidates outside the stated experience range may also be considered where their technical accomplishments demonstrate equivalent capability.

Core Technical Competencies The candidate should have strong expertise across several of the following areas:

UAV system architecture

Aircraft conceptual design

Aerodynamics

Aircraft performance

Stability and control

Structural design

Composite structures

Lightweight structures

Weight and balance / mass-property management

Propulsion-system integration

Electric propulsion

Internal-combustion propulsion, where applicable

Avionics architecture

UAV electronics

Electrical-power systems

Sensors and onboard computing

Embedded systems

Flight-control systems

Navigation systems

Communication systems

Ground-control architecture

Prototype development

Systems integration

Verification & validation

Flight testing

Manufacturing engineering

DFM/DFA

Configuration management

Failure analysis

FMEA / DFMEA

Engineering change control

Software & Engineering Tools





Candidates should have hands-on experience with one or more professional CAD platforms such as:

CATIA / Siemens NX / SolidWorks / Creo or equivalent

Experience with engineering analysis tools such as:

ANSYS / Abaqus / NASTRAN / HyperWorks / MATLAB / Simulink / XFLR5 / CFD tools or equivalent would be highly desirable.

Exposure to UAV development ecosystems such as PX4, ArduPilot or equivalent flight-control environments would be an advantage.

However, we are not looking merely for proficiency in engineering software. We are looking for an engineer who understands the underlying physics, system behaviour and engineering trade-offs and can translate analysis into a reliable flying product.

Leadership Expectations

We are particularly interested in candidates who:

Can lead engineers while remaining technically hands-on.

Are comfortable moving between design office, electronics lab, manufacturing shop floor and flight-test field.

Can challenge engineering assumptions using data and first-principles reasoning.

Understand how mechanical, electrical, electronic and software systems interact at aircraft level.

Can build engineering processes rather than depend upon informal development.

Take ownership of failures instead of assigning blame.

Can transform prototypes into reliable production products.

Are capable of recruiting, mentoring and developing strong engineering teams.

Maintain configuration, documentation, quality and test discipline even under aggressive schedules.

Have a robust bias towards indigenous engineering and technology development.

Desirable Experience

Experience in one or more of the following would be an advantage:

Fixed-wing UAV development

VTOL or hybrid-VTOL UAV development

Autonomous aerial systems

Composite-airframe design and manufacturing

UAV avionics development

Flight-controller hardware

Embedded electronics

Flight-control algorithms

Electrical and power architecture

Prototype-to-production transition

Aerospace manufacturing

UAV flight testing

Environmental testing

EMI/EMC testing

AS9100 or aerospace-quality systems

CEMILAC / DGAQA or other applicable military-airworthiness and quality processes

Defence and government development programmes

Location The position will be based full-time at our Panvel/Taloja facility, Maharashtra.

The candidate must be comfortable working closely with design, R&D; and manufacturing teams at the plant and travelling for testing, trials and other programme requirements when necessary.

Why Join Ecoearth?

This is an opportunity to participate in something fundamentally different from maintaining an already-established product line.

The selected candidate will have the opportunity to:

Build UAV platforms from the ground up.

Establish an integrated UAV engineering organisation.

Develop indigenous technologies.

Build and lead multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Convert concepts into flying prototypes.

Take prototypes through testing and product maturation.

Establish production and assembly capability.

- Create engineering systems and processes that can support future UAV families.

We are looking for someone who wants to build products, build teams and build capability.

How to Apply

Candidates may apply through LinkedIn with their CV.

Along with the application, we encourage candidates to briefly describe one UAV, aircraft or complex engineering programme in which they personally played a major role, covering:

What was developed → What was their personal responsibility → What stage the programme reached → What engineering challenge they personally solved.

📌 Senior Technical Manager – UAV Programs (Panvel)
🏢 EcoEarth Solutions
📍 Panvel