Technical Program Manager - Ground System Deployments, Construction and Service
Zipline, South San Francisco, CA, United States
About Zipline
Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system to deliver critical supplies quickly and reliably, serving food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere.
About You And The Role
The Deployment, Construction, and Service Operations team is responsible for transforming bare ground into fully operational Zipline sites. As the Technical Program Manager, you will drive the successful rollout of Zipline’s global infrastructure, coordinating cross-functional teams from design to field operations to ensure schedules, roadmaps, and strategies align with organizational goals.
What You’ll Do
Strategic Program Leadership: Transform ambiguous goals into milestone-driven roadmaps, owning the "0 to 1" trajectory for poorly defined programs and aligning Design, Engineering, and Service Operations to move complex infrastructure projects from concept through real-world deployment.
Deployment and Construction Execution: Coordinate prototypes, builds, and infrastructure deployments across structural, electrical, manufacturing, and software domains to ensure designs translate successfully into real-world systems.
System-Level Technical Guidance: Facilitate technical discussions, design reviews, and trade studies to help engineering teams converge on effective solutions and guide system-level decisions across technical domains.
Stakeholder & Risk Management: Align cross-functional leadership (Real Estate, Engineering, Construction, Maintenance) and engage external partners to proactively quantify and mitigate construction, operational risks, balancing urgency with cost and impact.
Operational Excellence & Feedback Loops: Maintain resourcing plans for parallel projects, identify dependencies and bottlenecks, and establish mechanisms for Service Operations to feed field data back to Design, ensuring next-generation infrastructure is designed for deployability and reliability.
Clarity and Process Improvement: Develop lightweight tools, documentation, and operational processes (decision logs, build playbooks) to help teams move faster, operate with clarity, and drive clear communication of program status, risks, and decisions.
What You’ll Bring
Experience & Mindset:
6-10+ years as a Technical Program Manager or Program Manager delivering multi-disciplinary hardware projects.
Experience with complex hardware systems (aerospace, robotics, energy, infrastructure, etc.).
Operational intuition; proven success with "0 to 1" transitions and scaling products from prototype to global deployment.
Highly execution-oriented mindset; ownership of outcomes and relentless follow-through.
Enthusiasm for working closely with engineers, technicians, and deployment teams on complex hardware systems.
Technical & Program Skills:
Proven ability to build strategic roadmaps (e.g., 5-year operating plans).
Strong systems thinking; capacity to dive into unfamiliar technical domains to guide decisions.
Proficiency in project management tools (Jira, MS Project, Smartsheet) for tracking scope, schedule, and budget.
Familiarity with Construction and Service Operations is a plus.
Experience improving team effectiveness via documentation, decision tracking, or process improvements.
Communication & Leadership:
Exceptional communication; uses passive and active influence to drive positive change.
Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional engineering teams and drive complex technical programs in fast-paced environments.
Strong facilitation skills to guide technical discussions and align diverse teams.
Proven ability to drive complex cross-team deliveries with clear prioritization, sequencing, and risk management.
Excellent communication and ability to influence diverse technical stakeholders.
Analytical, data-driven approach; comfortable defining and improving key metrics (build times, data latency, environmental reliability/availability).
Adaptability and resilience; experience introducing and scaling new processes or platforms.
Influence without authority: exceptional communication skills; uses passive/active influence to drive change in challenging situations.
Highly execution-oriented; ownership and relentless follow-through, ensuring details are managed.
Additional Information
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.
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!
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system to deliver critical supplies quickly and reliably, serving food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere.
About You And The Role
The Deployment, Construction, and Service Operations team is responsible for transforming bare ground into fully operational Zipline sites. As the Technical Program Manager, you will drive the successful rollout of Zipline’s global infrastructure, coordinating cross-functional teams from design to field operations to ensure schedules, roadmaps, and strategies align with organizational goals.
What You’ll Do
Strategic Program Leadership: Transform ambiguous goals into milestone-driven roadmaps, owning the "0 to 1" trajectory for poorly defined programs and aligning Design, Engineering, and Service Operations to move complex infrastructure projects from concept through real-world deployment.
Deployment and Construction Execution: Coordinate prototypes, builds, and infrastructure deployments across structural, electrical, manufacturing, and software domains to ensure designs translate successfully into real-world systems.
System-Level Technical Guidance: Facilitate technical discussions, design reviews, and trade studies to help engineering teams converge on effective solutions and guide system-level decisions across technical domains.
Stakeholder & Risk Management: Align cross-functional leadership (Real Estate, Engineering, Construction, Maintenance) and engage external partners to proactively quantify and mitigate construction, operational risks, balancing urgency with cost and impact.
Operational Excellence & Feedback Loops: Maintain resourcing plans for parallel projects, identify dependencies and bottlenecks, and establish mechanisms for Service Operations to feed field data back to Design, ensuring next-generation infrastructure is designed for deployability and reliability.
Clarity and Process Improvement: Develop lightweight tools, documentation, and operational processes (decision logs, build playbooks) to help teams move faster, operate with clarity, and drive clear communication of program status, risks, and decisions.
What You’ll Bring
Experience & Mindset:
6-10+ years as a Technical Program Manager or Program Manager delivering multi-disciplinary hardware projects.
Experience with complex hardware systems (aerospace, robotics, energy, infrastructure, etc.).
Operational intuition; proven success with "0 to 1" transitions and scaling products from prototype to global deployment.
Highly execution-oriented mindset; ownership of outcomes and relentless follow-through.
Enthusiasm for working closely with engineers, technicians, and deployment teams on complex hardware systems.
Technical & Program Skills:
Proven ability to build strategic roadmaps (e.g., 5-year operating plans).
Strong systems thinking; capacity to dive into unfamiliar technical domains to guide decisions.
Proficiency in project management tools (Jira, MS Project, Smartsheet) for tracking scope, schedule, and budget.
Familiarity with Construction and Service Operations is a plus.
Experience improving team effectiveness via documentation, decision tracking, or process improvements.
Communication & Leadership:
Exceptional communication; uses passive and active influence to drive positive change.
Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional engineering teams and drive complex technical programs in fast-paced environments.
Strong facilitation skills to guide technical discussions and align diverse teams.
Proven ability to drive complex cross-team deliveries with clear prioritization, sequencing, and risk management.
Excellent communication and ability to influence diverse technical stakeholders.
Analytical, data-driven approach; comfortable defining and improving key metrics (build times, data latency, environmental reliability/availability).
Adaptability and resilience; experience introducing and scaling new processes or platforms.
Influence without authority: exceptional communication skills; uses passive/active influence to drive change in challenging situations.
Highly execution-oriented; ownership and relentless follow-through, ensuring details are managed.
Additional Information
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.
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!
#J-18808-Ljbffr