UAS Operations Manager; Chief Remote Pilot

UAS Operations Manager (Chief Remote Pilot), Spekboom Restoration Project

Technical and Carbon Division (UASOC Programme)
Department, Eastern Cape (Gqeberha), South Africa

Location:

Gqeberha, Eastern Cape (Head Office), with travel to all Nat Carbon Africa project sites

Reports to:

Accountable Manager

Are you ready to embark on an extraordinary adventure that will revitalise landscapes, combat climate change, and promote sustainable agriculture?

Join Nat Carbon Africa: a mission-driven, proudly African organisation dedicated to high-quality implementation of large-scale carbon, climate, and biodiversity projects. We embrace the power of innovative technology to enhance project execution. Community engagement lies at the heart of our projects, driven by a genuine commitment to meaningful and inclusive participation and co-benefits, such as biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic upliftment.

Nat Carbon Africa seeks a UAS Operations Manager (Chief Remote Pilot) in the Technical and Carbon Department for the large-scale Spekboom Restoration Project in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa.

With our partner, Imperative Global, our aim is to restore up to 100,000 hectares of degraded subtropical thicket biome. The Project entails planting Spekboom (Portulacaria afra) on privately owned land to improve ecosystem functioning and agricultural productivity over time, promote biodiversity, improve soil filtration, enhance water storage capabilities, and to reduce soil erosion. The Project is estimated to permanently store large quantities of Carbon Dioxide over the Project life, thus positively contributing towards climate change mitigation.

The UAS Operations Manager will lead the establishment and ongoing operation of Nat Carbon Africa's own Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operating Certificate (UASOC) under Part 101 of the South African Civil Aviation Regulations. Acting as the organisation's Chief Remote Pilot and nominated operations post-holder, this role owns the Operations Manual, flight standards, and pilot training and currency across all Nat Carbon project teams, and is the primary operational point of contact with the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA).

The role works closely with the UAS Quality & Safety Manager to ensure operations remain compliant, safe, and audit-ready as the certificate is established and the operation grows.

• Lead the design, documentation, and submission of Nat Carbon Africa's UASOC application under Part 101, including drafting and maintaining the Operations Manual (OM) and Operational Specifications (Ops Specs).
• Serve as Chief Remote Pilot, taking overall responsibility for the standardisation, currency, and technical competency of all Remote Pilots in Command (RPICs) across the organisation.
• Set, implement, and enforce flight operations standards, SOPs, and pre- and post-flight procedures across all project teams, including the existing Spekboom Restoration Project geospatial field team (Young Professionals, Field Technicians, and Senior Field Technicians).
• Own operational planning for the UAS fleet, including aircraft type approvals, airspace coordination, and flight authorisations for new sites, aircraft, or mission types.
• Establish and lead pilot training, certification, and currency-tracking programmes (RPC, BVLOS, type ratings) across all levels of the geospatial field team.
• Liaise with the Responsible Person:
  Aircraft post holder and RPAS/UAS Maintenance Technicians to ensure all aircraft are serviceable, properly maintained, and that aircraft airworthiness records meet UASOC requirements.
• Act as the primary operational liaison with SACAA on flight-operations matters, including future scope expansions such as BVLOS approval, additional aircraft types, or new operating areas.
• Investigate flight incidents and occurrences, and implement corrective actions in coordination with the UAS Quality & Safety Manager.
• Provide operational input into the Safety Management System (SMS) and support internal quality audits.
• Provide technical leadership and escalation support to Geospatial Team Leads and Senior Geospatial Field Technicians across projects.
• Hold the authority to stop or prohibit any unsafe, unreliable, or non-compliant flight operations.
• Roster pilots and schedule flights across all project teams.
• Ensure the currency and availability of the Operations Manual and the Integrated Aeronautical Information Package (IAIP) across all project…