Amazon Is Hiring a Pilot to Test its Delivery Drones

It seems Amazon is getting serious about delivering packages to its customers via drone.

The e-tailer has posted a job listing for a flight operations engineer on its Amazon Prime Air drone delivery team. The new job, based at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, will involve working with regulatory authorities, planning out test flights and executing the flights themselves. Several years of flight test experience are required for the job.

The company is also seeking a flight safety manager to work on the same program.

See the Factories Where Amazon Can Move 426 Items a Second

Employees collect merchandise ordered by customers for shipment from the Amazon.com distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona, Nov. 26, 2012.

David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images

A worker collects order items at the Fulfilment Centre for online retail giant Amazon in Peterborough, central England, on Nov. 28, 2013.

Andrew Yates—AFP/Getty Images

Merchandise sits on shelves before shipment at the Amazon.com Inc. distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona, Nov. 26, 2012.

David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images

An employee packs merchandise for shipment at the Amazon.com Inc. fulfillment center in Phoenix, Arizona, Dec. 2, 2013.

David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images

A picture shows the Fulfilment Centre for online retail giant Amazon in Peterborough, central England, on November 28, 2013, ahead of Cyber Monday on December 2nd, expected to be one of the busiest online shopping days of the year.

Andrew Yates—AFP/Getty Images

An employee packs orders in the Fulfilment Centre for online retail giant Amazon in Peterborough, central England, on November 28, 2013, ahead of Cyber Monday on December 2nd, expected to be one of the busiest online shopping days of the year.

Andrew Yates—AFP/Getty Images

Employee Maria Miller loads boxes onto a conveyer belt for shipping at the Amazon.com Inc. distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012.

David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Interior view of the hall of a logistics center of the online shopping company Amazon, taken on March 26, 2014 in Leipzig, eastern Germany.

Peter Ending—AFP/Getty Images

Packages sit in regional delivery dividers ahead of distribution at the Amazon.co.uk Marston Gate 'Fulfillment Center,' the U.K. site of Amazon.com Inc. in Ridgmont, United Kingdom, Dec. 3, 2012.

Simon Dawson—Bloomberg/Getty Images

1 of 9

Advertisement

Amazon first announced its intentions to begin a drone delivery program via a 60 Minutes episode about a year ago. The plan has been met with much skepticism because the commercial use of drones is heavily regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. However, the agency recently permitted the use of drones on certain movie sets, which could pave the way for wider use of the vehicles at businesses such as Amazon.

Contact us at editors@time.com.