Head of Regulatory Affairs

About HyLight:

HyLight’s mission is to help society become more resilient to climate change by improving the observation and inspection of infrastructure.

We build HyLighters, airships that collect data across vast distances with zero emissions.

Our activities include:

• Detecting methane leaks from gas infrastructures (4% of global GHG emissions)

• Inspecting power lines to prevent outages and wildfires

By 2030, we aim to become the global leader in aerial monitoring.

In just 3 years, we have pushed the realm of possibilities: as we have:

• Developed 8 iterations of the HyLighter

• Logged over 200 flight hours

• Secured our first inspection contracts with Europe’s largest infrastructure operators

• Joined the world’s top startup accelerator, Y Combinator

• Raised €6 millions

HyLight is aiming for a diverse and included team, if your profile doesn't fit all the description but you can bring a diverse point of view, push it forward, it will be highly appreciated.
We’re well-funded and backed by top investors, providing the resources you wish you had when building your own business. We don’t care about traditional roles or titles, just that you’re smart, proactive, and bring the same founder-level ownership and drive to help us build something massive.

This high-responsibility position is central to HyLight's core objectives. Your mission is to enable the HyLighter to fly in increasingly challenging scenarios: moving from VLOS to BVLOS and operating in high-population density areas. You will act as the regulatory bridge between our Tech, Operations, and Business development teams.

Personal Note from Martin (CEO)

"This role encompasses every facet of regulation: from securing flight authorizations and adapting our regulatory strategy to new drone laws, to managing high-level exchanges with French and European authorities. You will collaborate daily with our Tech team as they develop new HyLighters.

With thousands of flight hours ahead of us, the regulatory challenge is thrilling. Regulations for light drones like the HyLighter are currently being shaped at the national and European levels. This gives you a direct opportunity to influence the decision-making process and write the future rules of the air."

Under the guidance of our CEO and in collaboration with the engineering teams, your responsibilities will include:

Mission 1: Regulatory Strategy & Development

• Enable BVLOS operations in populated areas, from SAIL II to SAIL III, starting in France and expanding across Europe, with a strong focus on Germany (LBA) and DACH region:

  • Define and drive the regulatory strategy aligned with company objectives.

  • Make high-level technical and operational choices to support certification and scalability.

  • Anticipate and interpret regulatory trends (EASA, JARUS, NAA) to position HyLight ahead of requirements.

  • Implement the SORA methodology across complex scenarios, including challenging authorities to achieve 50 kppl/km² in SAIL II.

  • Lead advanced certification processes, including obtaining and validating SORA SAIL III approvals.

  • Unlock new operational capabilities (population density, weather envelopes, deployment models) through JARUS and NAA discussions.

Mission 2: Regulatory Representation

• Represent HyLight externally on all regulatory matters:

  • Act as the primary regulatory point of contact for authorities, clients, and partners, working groups (JARUS).

  • Lead interactions with any National Aviation Authority

  • Establish efficient and predictable coordination workflows with authorities.

  • Build client trust by demonstrating strong regulatory control, safety culture, and compliance maturity.

The following list of skills is exhaustive, while you may not perfectly fit with the profile, we highly value personal growth and development. We see our interns as potential future team leads at HyLight.

Technical Skills:

This is an exhaustive list of sought after skills, if you have

• UAS Regulation: Knowledge of SORA (SORA 2.5 is a plus), SC Light UAS (specifically medium risk), and EASA Means of Compliance (2510, 2511, etc.).

• Project Management: Ability to distribute tasks, manage complex exchanges with authorities, and explain regulatory concepts to non-experts.

• Innovation Mindset: Experience working with tech teams in a startup or high-innovation environment is a major plus.

Soft Skills:

• Entrepreneurial profile with strong "self-execution" and adaptation capabilities.

• Rigorous, resilient, and proactive in problem-solving.

• Strong institutional communication skills, acting as a trusted interface with aviation authorities and defense stakeholders.

• Nice to have: Pilot’s license (ULM, PPL, or professional remote pilot).

Languages:

English (fluent – company working language)
German (strong plus, especially for DACH regulatory interactions)
French is a plus but not required

• Competitive salary and equity package

• Bi-annual offsite trips with the whole team

• Founder Mentality: We value extreme ownership and want people who think like founders, fast decision makers, natural problem solvers, and executers.

• Ground Floor Opportunity: You’ll be helping to shape and grow a revolutionary company with the resources to back it.

• Impact & Speed: Work in a fast-paced environment where your contributions will have immediate, tangible effects on the company’s success.

• Introductory phone call (20 min)

• Video interview with our Safety and Airworthiness engineer Lois (40 min)

• Technical case study followed by a debrief with team members

• Reference calls

• Founders meeting (1h)

• Remote-first within Europe
  On-site visits at Base 217 (France) for key milestones