Ops Standards and Readiness Lead

Zipline; Concord (NC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking an Ops Standards and Readiness Lead to formalize standards, evaluation and readiness evidence across U.S. flight operations and beyond.

You will translate regulatory requirements, safety policy, operational doctrine, and system capabilities into measurable criteria, training materials, and auditable documentation. You’ll own the Standards & Evaluations program, oversee audits and change control, and drive readiness reviews with Safety, Training, Flight Operations and

Qualifications

• Experience owning operational standards in a safety-critical, regulated environment.
• Ability to govern standards across a complex, multi-team operating system.
• Skill translating regulatory and policy inputs into auditable criteria.

Responsibilities

• Define measurable flight operations standards and oversight criteria.
• Translate regulatory requirements and safety policy into practical performance criteria.
• Design evaluation methods, metrics, rubrics, and review processes.
• Own the Standards & Evaluations program, including documentation and audits.
• Lead readiness reviews with Training, Safety, Flight Operations, and Engineering.
• Analyze evidence to identify trends and gaps; recommend improvements.
• Deliver decision-ready readiness assessments for scalable operations.

Skills

Standards program ownership

Governance across systems

Regulatory translation

Audit system design

Stakeholder alignment

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 is moving from flight operations managed directly by individual Remote Pilots in Command to highly automated delivery networks supervised at fleet scale. Safe, reliable growth requires operating standards that keep pace with automation, changing operator responsibilities, and regulatory requirements.

As Ops Standards and Readiness Lead, you will own the standards and evaluation system that makes operational performance visible and actionable. Starting with U.S. flight operations and built to scale globally, you will translate regulatory requirements, safety policy, operational doctrine, and system capabilities into readiness evidence, training, policy, and system improvements.

What You’ll Do

• Define measurable standards for flight operations, fleet supervision, and autonomous-system oversight.
• Translate regulatory requirements, safety policy, operational practice, and the P108 regulatory framework into practical performance criteria.
• Design objective evaluation methods, metrics, rubrics, and review processes for operators, supervisors, operational teams, and system performance.
• Own the Standards & Evaluations program, including controlled documentation, audit cycles, change management, and decision records.
• Lead recurring standards and readiness reviews through developmental gates with Training, Safety, Flight Operations, and Engineering.
• Analyze evaluation evidence to identify performance trends and gaps, then recommend targeted changes to training, procedures, policy, or system design.
• Deliver decision-ready readiness assessments that show whether operations meet defined standards, can scale safely, or require corrective action.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience owning or materially leading an operational standards, audit, evaluation, or readiness program in a safety- and regulation-critical environment.
• Experience governing standards across a complex, multi-team operating system rather than a single procedure or functional team.
• Leads by example with energy, adaptability, and resilience, effectively navigating rapid change, competing priorities, ambiguity, and demanding timelines.
• Experience translating regulatory, policy, and technical inputs into clear operational criteria, controlled documentation, and auditable evidence.
• Experience designing evaluation or audit systems that produce consistent, objective findings rather than subjective judgment.
• Ability to build scalable governance processes, resolve competing inputs, and align Safety, Training, Flight Operations, and Engineering on standards changes.
• Sound judgment assessing safety, reliability, and operational risk as autonomous-system capabilities and operator responsibilities evolve.

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. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!