Also called: Drone Program Manager
Runs a company's or agency's whole drone program: fleet, pilots, safety, and FAA approvals.
You manage a team of pilots, negotiate a waiver with the FAA to fly beyond line of sight, and present results to executives. Utilities, police departments, and oil companies all hire for this.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's degree plus drone operations experience; Part 107 certificate.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training, Military. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Aviation Management, Business Administration.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years). Uses BLS engineering/architectural managers projection as a proxy.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps track fleets and paperwork; FAA approvals, safety culture and leading pilots stay human.
Classes: Business, Government or civics, Physics, Speech or debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-9041.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.