Head of Flight Test

Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are. From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments and consumers. The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through our technology that includes robotics and autonomy, we are decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution, while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.

 

Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.

About You and The Role  

As Zipline’s Head of Flight Testing, you will lead an established team while driving innovation and elevating our flight testing operations to new heights. You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—engineering, manufacturing, regulatory, global operations, US operations, and sales—to provide critical support and ensure alignment across all areas of the company. In this role, you’ll set the direction for testing future technologies, designing and executing tests in diverse environments and under varying conditions to ensure the highest standards of safety, performance, and scalability.

What You'll Do  

• Oversee a world class team of test operators and maintainers in the execution of software and hardware testing, operational improvement, regulatory certification and special projects such as weather envelope expansion testing 
• Manage operations and resource allocations across  all test locations and test planning and execution
• Prepare, strategize, and grow the team for expanded testing capacity and capabilities in new geographies, new technologies and new test cases while maintaining current capabilities.
• Ensure consistent test readiness and forecast blockers to enable testing up-time
• Act as a stakeholder in signing off a release for live operations 
• Provide strategic and tactical thought partnership to engineering for test execution 
• Coordinate with the regulatory team for certification and waiver efforts 
• Foster a safety culture and ensure compliance with all procedures and regulations
• Oversee financial spend of test sites 
• Ensure site upkeep and maintain landlord relationships
• Plan and coordinate logistics support for flight operations team
• Host demos and internal training days as needed 
• Manage various contractors and suppliers

What You'll Bring 

• Demonstrated experience in scaled test operations in the field for hardware and software and certification
• Demonstrated experience managing a distributed team across multiple locations
• Experience in Part107 operations, Part91 operations,and achieving waivers for operational requirements 
• Experience managing a team to successfully plan, coordinate, and conduct test operations, and 
• Proven success motivating a team in austere conditions
• Ability to manage technical, operational, and business risk and independently create go/no go procedures
• Part107 license (or achieved by start date).
• Must be willing to work some nights/weekends.
• Must be a US citizen or Permanent Resident.
• Must be able to (1) relocate to San Francisco, CA, (2) be willing and able to do travel weekly between Northern California test sites and Zipline’s headquarters
• Ability to lift 25+ lbs

What Else You Need to Know