Flight Test Maintenance Operations Lead

Socket.dev; Esparto (CA); On-site; USD 97,000 - 146,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking an Associate Maintenance Operations Engineering Lead for its Flight Test sites. You will lead maintenance execution in a dynamic, technically complex test environment, supporting evolving hardware, off-nominal work, and experimental fleets.

This hands-on leadership role requires strong judgment, systems thinking, and the ability to scale maintenance processes with the pace of flight testing.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in aviation maintenance or other highly technical hardware operations
• Strong hands-on maintenance and troubleshooting skills
• Ability to manage technically complex work beyond routine maintenance
• Experience with maintenance documentation and configuration control
• Ability to work cross-functionally with engineering and operations teams

Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day maintenance execution across Flight Test sites, prioritizing work and resolving blockers
• Lead and coordinate complex off-nominal maintenance, creating templates to track tasks
• Plan, coordinate, and support hardware modification processes across aircraft and assets
• Assist with running maintenance pilots and trial workflows and provide feedback to engineering
• Coordinate fleet configuration changes across aircraft with different test purposes
• Manage asset management across fleets, aligning parts, tools, and support equipment
• Maintain accurate maintenance records, modification documentation, and configuration tracking
• Provide technical guidance to maintenance technicians and mentor staff
• Identify gaps in processes and help build scalable maintenance systems

Skills

Aviation maintenance

Troubleshooting

Aircraft readiness

Cross-functional collaboration

Maintenance leadership

Education

FAA A&P or equivalent

Job description

Zipline is seeking an Associate Maintenance Operations Engineering Lead for its Flight Test sites. You will lead maintenance execution in a dynamic, technically complex test environment, supporting evolving hardware, off-nominal work, and experimental fleets.

This hands-on leadership role requires strong judgment, systems thinking, and the ability to scale maintenance processes with the pace of flight testing.