Flight Test Site Lead

Socket.dev; Amarillo (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline’s Flight Test Facility seeks a Site Lead to run day-to-day operations and lead Flight Test Operators, Ground Test, and Visual Observer teams as aircraft move from development into flight test.

You will own site readiness, staffing, safety, and performance, making stop-work decisions and driving throughput, repeatability, and reliability while upholding safety.

Collaborate with engineering, safety, maintenance, and manufacturing to plan complex test campaigns and improve procedures.

Qualifications

• Experience leading teams in aviation, drone operations, or safety-critical environments.
• Ability to make sound decisions under pressure when safety and readiness compete.
• Proven coaching, mentoring, and performance feedback skills.

Responsibilities

• Set daily site priorities and direct safe execution of flight and ground test activities.
• Make site readiness and staffing decisions; approve or stop work as needed.
• Lead and develop Flight Test Operators, Ground Test personnel, and Visual Observers.
• Coordinate facilities, equipment, layout, and operational needs with internal partners and vendors.
• Collaborate with engineering, safety, maintenance, and manufacturing on test campaigns.
• Track safety, readiness, throughput, and reliability metrics to drive improvements.
• Represent Flight Test Operations during facility visits and explain Zipline’s practices to diverse audiences.

Skills

Aviation leadership

Decision making

People leadership

Operational planning

Cross-functional collab

Clear communication

Flight test know-how

Job description

About Zipline

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products.

Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.

Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe.

We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds.

About You and The Role

Zipline’s flight test facility turns new aircraft capabilities into safe, repeatable operations. As Site Lead, you will run the day-to-day facility operation and lead the Flight Test Operator, Ground Test, and Visual Observer teams as aircraft move from engineering development into flight test.

You will own site readiness, execution, staffing, safety, and team performance. You will make site-level readiness, staffing, and stop-work decisions; escape test-plan changes and unresolved safety, engineering, or program tradeoffs. Success is a safe, ready site that executes planned test work with improving throughput, repeatability, and reliability; safety governs tradeoffs.

What You'll Do

• Set daily site priorities, lead operational briefings and readiness checks, and direct safe execution of flight and ground test activities.
• Make site-level readiness, staffing allocation, and stop-work decisions; escape test-plan changes and unresolved safety, engineering, or program tradeoffs.
• Manage and develop Flight Test Operators, Ground Test personnel, and Visual Observers through hiring, onboarding, coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• Coordinate facilities, equipment, layout, and operational needs with internal partners and vendors to maintain a ready flight test site.
• Partner with engineering, safety, maintenance, and manufacturing to plan and execute complex test campaigns.
• Track safety, readiness, throughput, repeatability, and reliability metrics to improve procedures, tooling, workflows, and resource allocation.
• Represent Flight Test Operations during facility visits, explaining Zipline’s aircraft, test approach, and operating practices to technical and non-technical audiences.

What You'll Bring

• Experience leading teams responsible for daily execution in aviation, aerospace, drone operations, robotics, military operations, or another safety-critical operational environment.
• Experience directing operational work and making sound decisions under pressure when safety, readiness, and execution priorities compete.
• Demonstrated people leadership, including coaching, mentoring, performance feedback, and performance management.
• Ability to balance daily execution with staffing, resource allocation, and longer-term operational planning.
• Proven ability to improve processes and deliver cross-functional operational initiatives with engineering or technical partners.
• Clear written and verbal communication for operational coordination, escalation, and stakeholder communication.
• Experience in flight test, experimental flight operations, prototype development, autonomous aircraft, robotic systems, facility development, or aviation and drone operations; FAA Part 107 or pilot certification is a plus.

What Else You Need To Know

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.