Drone Operator Jobs in Indiana (NOW HIRING)

Locations: Terre Haute, IN (Hybrid) & Batesville, IN (Hybrid)

Company: Aquila Corporation https://www.aquila.us/

Department: Engineering

Reports To: Engineering Operations Manager

Benefits: Health Insurance, Vision, Dental, Life, PTO

Position Overview

The Survey Chief leads all survey activities that support the planning, design, permitting, and deployment of fiber-optic infrastructure. This role ensures that route-selection surveys, right-of-way (ROW) assessments, underground utility investigations, and construction-site measurements are performed with technical precision, regulatory compliance, and safety as top priorities. By integrating geospatial data, engineering requirements, and construction logistics, the Survey Chief delivers high-quality, actionable survey outputs that enable efficient, cost-effective fiber-optic buildouts.

Key Responsibilities

Functional Area and Core Duties

Strategic Survey Planning

• Define the overall survey strategy for new fiber routes, upgrades, and maintenance projects.
• Align survey objectives with engineering design specs, network capacity targets, and construction schedules.
• Prioritize survey types (aerial, underground, trench, GIS, LiDAR) based on terrain, urban density, and regulatory constraints.

Route & Right-of-Way (ROW) Surveys

• Oversee aerial and ground-based surveys to map existing utilities, easements, and property boundaries.
• Ensure accurate capture of clearance envelopes, conduit depths, and pole-mounting locations.
• Coordinate with local municipalities, utility owners, and land-owner representatives to obtain permits and access agreements.

Geospatial Data Management

• Manage acquisition and processing of GIS layers, satellite imagery, LiDAR point clouds, and GNSS data.
• Maintain a centralized spatial database that integrates survey results with network design tools (e.g., ESRI ArcGIS).

Construction-Site Survey Execution

• Direct field crews in stake-out, as-built verification, trench depth checks, and pole-placement surveys.
• Implement safety protocols (OSHA, local regulations) for field operations, including traffic control and confined-space entry.

Quality Assurance & Methodology

• Establish SOPs for survey methodology (sampling intervals, equipment calibration, data validation).
• Conduct regular QA/QC audits of field data, ensuring positional accuracy (=?±?10?cm for GNSS, =?±?5?cm for LiDAR) and completeness of utility inventories.

Team Leadership & Development

• Supervise a multidisciplinary team of survey engineers, GIS analysts, field technicians, and contract vendors.
• Provide coaching on advanced surveying technologies (UAV photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, RTK GNSS).

Vendor & Technology Management

• Evaluate and manage external survey service providers, drone operators, and equipment vendors.
• Recommend and integrate new tools (e.g., automated pole-mount detection, AI-enhanced utility clash detection).

Data Analysis & Reporting

• Translate raw survey data into engineering-ready deliverables: route alignment files, utility clash reports, construction staking packages, and as-built drawings.
• Produce executive-level status reports highlighting risk factors, schedule impacts, and cost implications.

Stakeholder Coordination

• Serve as the primary liaison between engineering, construction, permitting, and finance teams.
• Facilitate workshops to review survey findings, resolve utility conflicts, and adjust design assumptions.

Regulatory Compliance & Permitting

• Ensure all surveys meet FCC, state, and local utility-mapping regulations (e.g., NPDES, environmental impact assessments).
• Maintain documentation for audit trails, permit applications, and environmental compliance filings.

Budget & Resource Oversight

• Develop and track the survey operations budget, controlling costs for equipment, labor, and third-party services.
• Optimize crew scheduling and equipment utilization to minimize downtime.

Required Qualifications

Requirement and Details

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Geomatics, Surveying, Electrical Engineering, or a related field. A Master’s degree or professional certification (e.g., PLS – Professional Land Surveyor) is preferred.

Experience

• = 7years of experience conducting surveys for telecommunications or utility infrastructure.
• = 3 years in a supervisory or lead role managing survey teams and external vendors.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency with GNSS/RTK, total stations, UAV/drone photogrammetry, and terrestrial LiDAR.
• Advanced GIS expertise (ArcGIS, QGIS) and familiarity with network-design integration tools (AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation).
• Ability to work with engineering software for route optimization and clash detection.

Methodology Expertise

• Strong grasp of utility mapping standards, right-of-way clearance calculations, and underground utility detection methods (GPR, EM induction).

Regulatory Knowledge

• Understanding of FCC fiber-optic deployment rules, state ROW statutes, and local permitting processes.

Leadership & Communication

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, negotiate with municipal authorities, and present technical findings to senior executives.

Safety & Compliance

• Experience implementing OSHA-compliant field safety programs and managing environmental impact assessments.

Soft Skills

• Detail-oriented, problem-solver, adaptable to field conditions, and capable of making data-driven decisions under tight timelines.

Preferred Attributes

• Experience with OSP Fiber and small cell wireless deployments.
• Familiarity with Trimble equipment (MX50, MX60, MX90, R2, Geode, etc)
• Familiarity with AI-assisted utility detection or machine-learning-based route optimization.
• Certified GIS Professional (GISP) or Certified Survey Technician (CST).
• Background in project management (PMP or equivalent).

Performance Metrics

Metric and Target

Survey Completion Rate

• = 95 % of planned surveys finished on schedule.

Positional Accuracy

• GNSS = ±10 cm; LiDAR =±5 cm for critical assets.

Permit Turn-around

• 90% of permits secured within the projected timeframe.

Risk Mitigation

• Reduction of utility-conflict incidents by = 30% year-over-year.

Budget Adherence

• Survey spends within ± 5 % of approved budget.

Team Development

• Annual training hours per employee = 40 hrs; employee engagement score = 4/5.

The Survey Chief for Fiber-Optic Engineering & Construction is the linchpin that transforms raw field data into reliable, build-ready designs, ensuring our fiber networks are deployed safely, efficiently, and in full regulatory compliance.