MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) Manager

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

A. MRO Facility Setup

Lead the establishment of the MRO facility from concept to operational readiness.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop the MRO business plan.
• Define MRO service scope.
• Identify required infrastructure.
• Prepare facility-layout requirements.
• Define workstations and maintenance bays.
• Identify tooling and test equipment.
• Define ESD-safe work areas where required.
• Establish battery handling/storage areas.
• Develop component-storage facilities.
• Establish quarantine and rejected-parts areas.
• Develop final inspection and testing areas.
• Establish documentation and records systems.

Prepare the initial MRO equipment and infrastructure requirement list.

4. Drone Maintenance

Develop preventive and scheduled maintenance programmes for UAV platforms.

Maintenance activities may include:

• Airframe inspection
• Motor inspection
• Propeller inspection
• ESC inspection
• Flight-controller inspection
• GPS/navigation-system inspection
• Communication-system inspection
• Battery inspection
• Payload inspection
• Wiring inspection
• Connector inspection
• Firmware/software checks
• Sensor checks
• Structural inspection
• Fastener checks
• Calibration checks
• Pre-flight/post-flight inspection

Develop maintenance schedules based on:

• Flight hours
• Flight cycles
• Calendar time
• Manufacturer recommendations
• Operating environment
• Mission profile
• Component condition

5. Repair & Troubleshooting

Establish systematic fault-diagnosis and repair procedures.

The MRO team should be capable of diagnosing:

• Electrical faults
• Electronic faults
• Communication failures
• Flight-controller faults
• GPS/navigation problems
• Motor/ESC failures
• Power-system failures
• Battery-related issues
• Sensor failures
• Payload faults
• Wiring/connectivity problems
• Software/firmware issues
• Structural damage

Develop standard troubleshooting procedures and diagnostic checklists.

6. Overhaul & Refurbishment

Develop capabilities for overhaul and refurbishment of eligible drone systems and components.

Activities may include:

• Complete system inspection
• Disassembly
• Component-level inspection
• Replacement of worn/damaged components
• Reassembly
• Calibration
• Functional testing
• Ground testing
• Flight testing where authorised and appropriate
• Final inspection
• Return-to-service documentation

Maintain complete traceability of replaced components and maintenance activities.

7. Fleet Maintenance

Develop fleet-maintenance programmes for institutional and commercial customers.

Potential customers may include:

• Drone operators
• Survey companies
• Agriculture companies
• Infrastructure companies
• Mining companies
• Power companies
• Government agencies
• PSUs
• Industrial organisations
• Logistics companies
• Drone service providers

Develop customer-specific:

• Maintenance schedules
• AMC packages
• Service-level agreements
• Spare-parts programmes
• Inspection schedules
• Fleet-health reports

8. Warranty & After-Sales Support

Coordinate closely with the manufacturing and customer-support teams for:

• Warranty claims
• Technical complaints
• Field failures
• Product recalls, where applicable
• Component replacement
• Repair turnaround
• Customer communication
• Root-cause analysis

Develop a structured Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action System.

9. MRO Quality System

Establish a robust quality-management system for all MRO activities.

Develop:

• SOPs
• Maintenance manuals
• Inspection checklists
• Repair procedures
• Quality inspection procedures
• Calibration procedures
• Tool-control procedures
• Component traceability
• Non-conformance procedures
• Corrective-action procedures
• Final inspection procedures
• Release documentation

All maintenance activities must be performed within the applicable regulatory, manufacturer and organisational requirements.

10. Regulatory & Compliance

Maintain awareness of applicable Indian aviation/drone regulations and ensure that MRO activities are undertaken only within the organisation's permitted scope.

The MRO Head will coordinate with the company's regulatory/compliance function regarding applicable requirements of:

• Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
• Ministry of Civil Aviation
• Applicable Drone Rules/regulations
• Applicable UAS-related requirements
• Manufacturer maintenance instructions
• Applicable safety requirements
• Environmental and workplace-safety requirements

Where a particular maintenance, component or aircraft category requires a specific approval, authorisation, certification or licensed personnel, the MRO Head must ensure that the work is performed only by appropriately authorised personnel.

11. Spare Parts Management

Establish a dedicated MRO spare-parts system.

Manage:

• Critical spares
• Fast-moving components
• Consumables
• Repairable components
• Rotable components
• Batteries
• Motors
• ESCs
• Flight controllers
• GPS modules
• Sensors
• Propellers
• Connectors
• Wiring
• Electronic components
• Structural parts

Develop:

• Minimum/maximum stock levels
• Reorder levels
• Supplier database
• Approved vendor list
• Part-number system
• Serial-number tracking
• Shelf-life tracking
• Component traceability

12. Tools & Test Equipment

Identify and maintain appropriate:

• Electrical test equipment
• Multimeters
• Power analysers
• Battery analysers
• Soldering/rework equipment
• Electronic diagnostic equipment
• Motor/ESC testing equipment
• Calibration equipment
• Communication-test equipment
• Ground-test equipment
• Software diagnostic tools
• Drone-specific service tools

Ensure appropriate calibration and tool-control records are maintained.

13. Battery Maintenance & Safety

Develop specific procedures for UAV battery management, including:

• Inspection
• Charging
• Storage
• Health monitoring
• Capacity testing
• Cycle tracking
• Damage assessment
• Isolation of damaged batteries
• Disposal/recycling coordination

Battery safety should be treated as a critical MRO function, particularly for lithium-based systems.

14. Technical Documentation

Establish a comprehensive documentation system covering:

• Aircraft/drone history
• Serial numbers
• Flight hours/cycles
• Maintenance history
• Repairs
• Component replacements
• Battery history
• Inspection records
• Test results
• Calibration records
• Warranty claims
• Defects
• Accident/damage reports
• Return-to-service records

Develop a digital Drone Maintenance Management System as the operation scales.

15. Root Cause & Reliability Engineering

Analyse recurring failures and identify improvement opportunities.

Develop:

• Failure database
• Failure-rate analysis
• Root-cause analysis
• Reliability reports
• Corrective-action plans
• Preventive-action plans

Work with the R&D and manufacturing teams to feed MRO findings back into product design.

16. MRO Business Development

Work with the Business Development team to develop the commercial MRO business.

Develop services such as:

• Annual Maintenance Contracts
• Comprehensive Maintenance Contracts
• Pay-per-service maintenance
• Fleet maintenance
• Component repair
• Battery-health services
• Inspection packages
• Refurbishment
• Emergency repair
• Field-support contracts
• Technical support packages
• OEM-authorised service, where applicable

Identify third-party drone fleets that may require maintenance support.

17. MRO Pricing & Commercial Management

Develop commercially viable pricing models for:

• Preventive maintenance
• Corrective maintenance
• Inspection
• Repair
• Overhaul
• Component replacement
• Labour
• Field service
• AMC
• CMC
• Emergency support

Track:

• Cost per repair
• Labour hours
• Spare-parts consumption
• Turnaround time
• Gross margin
• Warranty cost
• Customer profitability

18. MRO Turnaround Time

Establish measurable service levels.

Indicative metrics may include:

• Initial inspection time
• Diagnosis time
• Repair turnaround time
• Spare-part availability
• Final testing time
• Customer delivery time

19. Develop a system for tracking:

Aircraft Received Inspection Diagnosis Estimate Approval Repair Testing Quality Inspection Release Customer

20. Coordination with Manufacturing & R&D

The MRO Manager will work closely with:

Manufacturing

• Product reliability
• Assembly issues
• Component failures
• Production quality

R&D

• Design improvements
• Failure analysis
• New component testing
• Product modifications

Quality

• Non-conformances
• Inspection systems
• Corrective actions

Procurement

• Spare parts
• Vendors
• Component availability

Business Development

• AMC/CMC
• Customer requirements
• MRO contracts

This integration will help establish a complete Drone Product Lifecycle Management System.

Preferred candidate profile

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The MRO Manager will be evaluated on:

• MRO facility establishment
• Facility readiness
• Number of aircraft/fleets supported
• MRO revenue
• Gross margin
• Repair turnaround time
• First-time-right repair rate
• Repeat failures
• Customer satisfaction
• AMC/CMC contracts
• Spare-parts availability
• Inventory turnover
• Warranty cost
• Maintenance compliance
• Documentation accuracy
• Safety performance
• Technician productivity
• Equipment utilisation

22. Qualifications

Preferred Education

• B.Tech / B.E. in Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electronics & Communication Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechatronics
• Avionics
• Robotics
• Diploma in relevant engineering discipline

Experience

2-5 years of relevant experience, preferably in:

• UAV/drone maintenance
• Aircraft maintenance
• Avionics
• Aerospace MRO
• UAV operations
• Robotics maintenance
• Electronics repair
• Industrial equipment MRO

Candidates with strong hands-on drone/UAV maintenance experience will be preferred.

23. Technical Competencies

The candidate should have strong practical knowledge of:

• UAV systems
• Airframes
• Motors
• ESCs
• Flight controllers
• GPS/navigation
• Communication systems
• Batteries
• Sensors
• Payloads
• Electronics
• Wiring
• Diagnostics
• Calibration
• Firmware/software
• Ground testing
• Flight testing

Knowledge of multirotor, fixed-wing and VTOL platforms will be an advantage.

24. Preferred Experience

Experience with one or more of the following will be highly desirable:

• Establishing an MRO facility
• Drone OEM service centre
• Fleet maintenance
• Defence/UAV systems
• Commercial drone operations
• Agriculture drones
• Mapping/survey drones
• Industrial inspection drones
• Heavy-lift UAVs
• VTOL UAVs
• Autonomous UAV systems
• Battery systems
• Avionics

25. Leadership Competencies

The candidate should demonstrate:

• Strong technical leadership
• Problem-solving ability
• Safety-first mindset
• Attention to detail
• Documentation discipline
• Customer orientation
• Team-building ability
• Cost awareness
• Process-development capability
• Start-up adaptability

26. Start-up Environment

This is a build-from-zero role.

The successful candidate should be comfortable developing systems where they do not yet exist, including:

• SOPs
• Workflows
• MRO software
• Spare-parts systems
• Technician training
• Vendor network
• Customer service processes
• Quality systems
• Pricing models
• AMC/CMC packages

The candidate will be expected to move between strategy and hands-on execution during the initial establishment phase.

27. First 12-Month Deliverables

0-3 Months

• MRO feasibility assessment
• Facility plan
• Equipment list
• Tooling requirement
• Manpower plan
• MRO process architecture
• Initial SOP framework

3-6 Months

• Facility commissioning
• Technician recruitment
• Tool/equipment installation
• Spare-parts system
• Documentation system
• Pilot maintenance programme

6-9 Months

• Commercial MRO launch
• AMC/CMC packages
• Customer onboarding
• Fleet maintenance programmes
• Warranty-support process

9-12 Months

• MRO revenue generation
• Third-party fleet acquisition
• Reliability database
• Digital maintenance tracking
• Expansion plan
• MRO Centre of Excellence roadmap

Perks and benefits

Performance incentives may be linked to:

• MRO revenue
• Facility commissioning
• Customer acquisition
• Turnaround time
• Repair quality
• Customer satisfaction
• Profitability