Flight Test Site Lead

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; escalate 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; escalate 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.