Field Operator - Ukraine

Opening Details Preferred starting date: ASAP Weekly availability: full-time (5 days/week) Location: Ukraine About the company Fiducial is a young but fast-growing deep-tech start-up with big ambitions at the frontier of autonomy, perception, and defence. Currently, we are developing software for advanced on-board UAV situational awareness in military applications. Using low-cost and widely available sensors and compute, our solutions are built for scalability. From there, we plan to develop a line-up of interconnected solutions to safeguard European safety. Our team consists of engineers that are passionate about the technology and solutions they develop. The only time most of us are not thinking about the technology is when we are asleep, and sometimes even then. Our team members have a background in different fields such as Aerospace Engineering, Computational Science and Engineering, Robotics and Computer Graphics. Our office is located in the Aerospace Innovation Hub, a start-up hub located on the TU Delft campus in the faculty of Aerospace Engineering. We work closely with top-tier partners, ranging from government agencies and prime contractors to academic research institutes and other start-ups. Our projects span from large tender orders in collaboration with partners to low-TRL research with government agencies. Whether through formal R&D programs or rapid prototyping tracks, we operate at the intersection of innovation and deployment. Your role As a Field Operator , you will provide practical, on-site field support for our technical operations team, forward-deployed engineers, and field activities in Ukraine. This is a hands-on operational role requiring strong logistics capability, reliability, calm judgement under pressure, and enough technical literacy to support field work without taking over technical decision-making. You will support our engineering team as they deploy, integrate, and test advanced UAV software in real-world environments. Field work can be fast-moving and demanding, requiring practical coordination, clear communication, and disciplined escalation. Your role is to help ensure that field activities are well prepared, teams have the practical support they need on location, and internal stakeholders have a factual view of operational status on the ground. You will work closely with the Technical Operations Manager and local engineering team, acting as the first line of practical support in Ukraine. You will coordinate local logistics, support on-site pilot setups, help prepare telepresence kits and other field materials, and act as the hands, ears, and eyes at the location. This role does not make technical commitments, commercial commitments, project scope decisions, or independent deployment decisions. Your responsibilities will include Field operations support • Support the preparation and coordination of field activities in Ukraine, ensuring deployed teams have the practical support needed to operate effectively. • Provide hands-on support on location, including carrying equipment, preparing practical materials, and helping teams operate with minimal operational distraction. • Act as a practical problem-solver for day-to-day operational needs that arise before, during, and after field activities. • Help maintain reliable local operating conditions for teams working in demanding and fast-changing environments. Logistics and equipment coordination • Support logistics planning for field activities, including movement of equipment, local transport, and practical preparation for on-site work. • Help prepare, track, and coordinate deployment equipment and other field support materials needed for customer-facing projects. • Coordinate practical arrangements related to workspace readiness, accommodation, access, utilities, supplies, and local services where needed. • Liaise with the local engineering team and relevant local parties to ensure field requirements are understood and practical arrangements are in place. Deployment readiness and on-site execution • Support deployment planning by helping verify that operational prerequisites, local arrangements, and practical field requirements are in place. • Assist with on-site pilot setups and practical field preparations so engineers and pilots can focus on technical execution. • Maintain visibility on active and upcoming field activities and help ensure relevant internal stakeholders remain aligned. • Identify operational risks, blockers, or gaps early and escalate them through the appropriate internal channels. Communication and reporting • Provide clear, factual updates on field status, operational issues, risks, and decisions needed. • Capture relevant information from the field and communicate it accurately to the Technical Operations Manager, local engineering team, and other internal stakeholders. • Support effective communication between deployed teams, internal operations, local engineering, and local external contacts. • Ensure operational updates remain timely, factual, and appropriately routed. Local coordination and stakeholder support • Coordinate practical matters with local partners, suppliers, and external contacts where needed. • Support field-facing interactions on operational topics, while escalating technical, commercial, or scope-related matters to the appropriate internal owners. • Help protect deployed engineers from unnecessary operational distractions so they can stay focused on technical work. • Build and maintain reliable local relationships that support smooth field execution. Operational discipline and continuous improvement • Maintain accurate operational records, expense documentation, supplier information, field support notes, and basic trackers in line with company processes. • Contribute to improving field operations processes, checklists, reporting routines, and lessons learned. • Help develop a more repeatable and scalable way of supporting field activities in Ukraine. • Uphold clear decision boundaries, confidentiality, and professional standards in a sensitive and fast-moving operating environment. What we expect from you • Strong experience in field operations, logistics, facilities coordination, site support, or practical field support, ideally in Ukraine or similarly demanding environments. • Native or fluent Ukrainian and strong working proficiency in English. • Valid driving licence, access to a car, and willingness to drive or commute as required to support field operations. • Strong practical problem-solving ability, with the hands-on mindset to coordinate local arrangements, suppliers, transport, facilities, equipment movement, and urgent field support. • Ability and willingness to provide practical on-site support, including moving equipment, preparing field materials, and helping field teams with day-to-day operational needs. • High reliability, integrity, and ownership when handling vendors, facility arrangements, procurement, expenses, and operationally sensitive information. • Clear and factual communication skills, especially in written updates, status reporting, and escalation of risks or decisions needed. • Enough technical literacy to use a computer confidently, understand field deployment context, support on-site pilot setups, and coordinate with engineering teams without acting as the technical decision-maker. • Calm judgement under pressure, with the confidence to push back politely and escalate when requests fall outside approved plans, scope, or authority. • Strong organisational discipline, including keeping basic trackers, checklists, supplier information, expense records, and field status updates accurate and up to date. • Ability to work independently in Ukraine while staying closely aligned with the Technical Operations Manager, local engineering team, and company leadership. • Flexibility to support irregular field schedules, urgent requests, and fast-changing operational needs. Bonus • Prior experience in military logistics, humanitarian field operations, defence, security, emergency response, technical field service, UAV operations, facilities coordination, or industrial site coordination. • Familiarity with drones, UAV platforms, robotics, embedded systems, field testing, or technical integration environments. • Experience supporting engineers, technicians, or technical teams in customer-facing field conditions. • Experience working with international teams, startups, or fast-changing operational environments. While the perfect background is valuable, we prioritize judgement, reliability, execution capability, and trustworthiness. This role is for someone who can make field operations work in the real world: calmly, practically, and with strong respect for reporting lines and decision boundaries. If you are able to keep teams supported, maintain operational clarity, act as the first line of practical support on location, and escalate the right issues before they become bigger problems, we want to talk. The application procedure If after reading the above you are convinced you are the right person for the job, send us some information about yourself; this can be a resume, website or other source, as long as we get a clear impression of your background and skills. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible. If we see a potential fit, you’ll first receive a short follow-up questionnaire. Based on your answers, we’ll invite you for a technical interview. This interview is an opportunity to talk through a real problem/scenario and show us you think and communicate. If at this point we feel you are the person we are looking for, we’ll discuss the specifics. Welcome to the team!