Need A Job? Amazon Is Looking For A Drone Pilot

If your dream it to work as a drone pilot, Amazon has a job for you. The Seattle-based e-commerce company has two job openings for flight operations engineers who will be in charge of test driving Prime Air drones that will one day deliver packages to Amazon customers. Of course, every flight operations engineer needs a flight safety manager, so there are openings for that position as well.

Time Magazine reports that Amazon is getting so serious about delivering packages via drone that they created job openings in hopes of finding engineers who would help plan the future of Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery team.

According the Amazon’s employment site, there are two drone pilot positions open — one in Seattle, Washington, and the other based in the U.K. Once hired, the engineers would be responsible for working with regulatory authorities, planning, and, eventually, executing the drone test flights.

Some of the basic qualifications for the job include a current pilot’s certificate, more than five years of flight test experience, and a Bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering. The company also prefers that applicants have aviation safety experience as a Safety Officer or “mishap investigator” — apparently they are anticipating some mishaps during the trial phase of the drone project.

Last December, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the company’s secret drone project to 60 Minutes correspondent Charlie Rose — “Octocopter” drones that will one day fly packages directly to customers’ doorsteps in just 30 minutes.

“When Charlie Rose walked in and saw the Prime Air drones sitting on a tabletop for the show-and-tell, he exclaimed ‘Oh, my God!'”

Now that Amazon is looking for test pilots for their drones, it looks like faster delivery via a futuristic looking vehicle is just one step closer to becoming reality. The delivery-by-drone program, currently called Amazon Prime Air, may be available to customers in about five years.

[Image: Amazon]