How To Become A Payloader Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a payloader operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a payloader operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.38 an hour? That's $36,148 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 32,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePayloader OperatorUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,148

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.27%

Asian 2.55%

Black or African American 9.24%

Hispanic or Latino 16.02%

Unknown 3.67%

White 67.25%

Gender

female 2.65%

male 97.35%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a payloader operator

Explore payloader operator education requirements

Most common payloader operator degrees

Bachelor's

34.7 %

High School Diploma

29.2 %

Associate

19.4 %

Start to develop specific payloader operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Mission Planning	40.20%
UAS	22.90%
UAV	13.98%
Flight Operations	9.99%
Troubleshoot	7.92%

Complete relevant payloader operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New payloader operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a payloader operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real payloader operator resumes.

Research payloader operator duties and responsibilities

Perform payload operations and flight engineer duties including creating and managing Sigact (significant acts) PowerPoint presentations.
Manage the master calendar and schedule resources such as communication equipment, weapons, transportation and ammunition forecast and delivery.
Perform both day and nighttime air reconnaissance missions.
Launch and re-cover the UAV using militarize radio controller.

Prepare your payloader operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your payloader operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a payloader operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable payloader operator resume templates

Build a professional payloader operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your payloader operator resume.