Test Maintenance Program Manager

What the role actually is

Zipline is hiring a test maintenance program manager in South San Francisco. The role owns the programs, operating rhythms, and cross-functional coordination that keep test aircraft and test sites mission-ready across Zipline's flight-test footprint.

This is a strong fit for the board because test readiness directly affects how quickly an autonomous aircraft company can validate new hardware and scale commercial operations. The work sits between maintenance operations engineering, flight test, product, and site operations.

What you would work on

• Own program plans that improve readiness for test aircraft and test sites
• Coordinate maintenance operations, flight test, product, and site operations teams
• Translate maintenance blockers into concrete programs, owners, and timelines
• Improve the cadence and reliability of product validation for autonomous delivery systems

What they are asking for

• Program management experience in aviation, hardware, operations, test, maintenance, or complex technical systems
• Ability to coordinate across engineering, test, operations, and site teams
• Strong judgment around safety, readiness, scheduling, and execution risk
• Comfort turning messy operational constraints into repeatable program structure

Why this one is worth a look

In robotics, test cadence is product velocity. This role is not designing aircraft, but it helps determine how quickly Zipline can prove changes, retire risk, and keep real-world autonomous delivery moving.