Aviation Maintenance Engineering Lead

Zipline

South San Francisco (CA)

On-site

USD 180,000 - 240,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Zipline is seeking an exceptional Test Maintenance Engineering Lead (Senior Manager/Director level) to build and oversee an elite, multi-state organization of maintenance technicians. You will be the linchpin between our hardware testing environments and our commercial operations.

You are a strong people manager and hands-on technical leader, defining a distributed workforce structure while leading from the front.

Qualifications

10–15+ years in aviation maintenance, test engineering, hardware operations, or aerospace manufacturing.
5–8+ years of direct people management; proven experience in designing structures and scaling distributed teams.
Hands-on technical depth to troubleshoot and perform maintenance tasks; licenses or degree with hands-on experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Build and scale the maintenance organization across multiple states and sites.
Lead from the front; perform tasks as needed and set a culture of accountability and high quality.
Maintain aviation-grade standards; ensure safety, precision, and speed without compromising quality.
Safeguard commercial success by proactively addressing technical and process gaps before they reach the commercial organization.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Engineering, Quality, Operations, and Commercial teams.