Operations Readiness Program Manager at Zipline

• We are hiring an Operations Readiness Program Manager to lead new Long Range Platform launches across Nigeria. You will own country-level readiness for multiple concurrent site launches—making launch decisions, driving cross-functional alignment, and raising the operational bar so sites launch faster, safer, and scale reliably. This work directly enables Zipline’s mission to build an instant delivery system that delivers critical medical and commercial goods across hard-to-reach regions; your success reduces time-to-service, increases launch reliability, and ensures safe, certified flight operations in challenging field environments.

What You'll Do

• Own end-to-end operational readiness for 3–6 concurrent Long Range Platform site launches across Nigeria, from planning through first flight and early stabilization; maintain an integrated program plan with milestones, dependencies, risks, and mitigation actions.
• Define and enforce clear go/no-go criteria and measurable acceptance standards for safety, staffing, training & certification, infrastructure, equipment, communications, power, charging systems, and first-flight procedures.
• Maintain and report against launch KPIs (e.g., staffing readiness %, certification completion %, equipment acceptance pass rate, launch go/no-go rate) and use those metrics to stop or green-light launches.
• Lead the cross-functional readiness cadence and day-to-day decision rhythm, driving alignment between Recruiting, Academy, Engineering, Construction, Supply Chain, Safety/Regulatory, Partnerships, and Country Leadership; resolve conflicts and escalate issues with clear decision requests.
• Validate readiness through field verification: lead on-site checkouts, acceptance tests, and flight-readiness demonstrations; identify and close launch-critical gaps before first flight.
• Own staffing and competency readiness: confirm role fills, onboarding, and on-site proficiency; own the decision that site teams can operate independently and safely at first flight.
• Coordinate regulatory and community-readiness actions required for launch; ensure permit/approval evidence and safety artifacts meet acceptance standards before launch.
• Lead post-launch reviews and root-cause analysis, measure performance against launch targets (e.g., time-to-service, initial reliability), and convert findings into updated standards, playbooks, and training requirements.
• Escalate unresolved safety, regulatory, or critical-path blockers promptly with recommended remediation and clear authority boundaries.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years program management, field operations, or deployment experience in technical, regulated, or aviation-adjacent environments; direct site launch or activation experience required/preferred as documented in prior roles.
• Proven track record managing multi-stakeholder launches or rollouts across field sites with measurable outcomes (examples: number of sites launched, % time-to-launch reduction, reduced safety incident rate); be prepared to cite specific metrics from past programs.
• Demonstrated ability to define go/no-go criteria, write acceptance tests, and enforce KPIs under schedule pressure; comfortable making and owning launch decisions.
• Hands-on experience coordinating engineering, construction, supply chain, and training to achieve first operational use at field sites; experience validating power, communications, charging systems, aircraft, and ground equipment preferred.
• Clear escalation judgment and stakeholder management: can resolve conflicts, escalate early, and present decision-ready summaries to country leadership.
• Able to operate in high-intensity field conditions: willing to spend extended periods on-site during launches and to work irregular hours around critical milestones.
• Willingness and ability to travel throughout Nigeria :20–30% typically, with higher intensity during launch windows.
• Fluency in English and authorization to work in Nigeria.