Fleet Configuration & Change Manager

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

About The Position

The Fleet Configuration & Change Manager sits at the intersection of hardware and business operations: ensuring Zipline’s operational fleet remains process-capable that engineering innovations get deployed to the field in a manner that optimizes the impact to the business. This is a cross-functional role that interfaces with hardware engineering, reliability, maintenance operations, and business strategy. You will be responsible for strategically planning the makeup of the autonomous aircraft fleet, and evaluating tradeoffs for the business with respect to hardware releases, retrofit campaigns, and fleet allocation. You will manage the variations across the fleet and ensure that new hardware configurations are deployed in a controlled and organized manner.

Requirements

Several years leading complex hardware change deployment, fleet configuration, maintenance planning, NPI, sustaining engineering, or technical operations programs.
Working knowledge of engineering change control: BOMs, part and revision control, effectivity, ECOs, compatibility, production cut-ins, and retrofit embodiment.
Strong quantitative judgment: lifecycle cost, capacity impact, reliability benefit, maintenance burden, inventory exposure, and scenario analysis.
Track record of success building and implementing new operating processes: intake, prioritization, decision gates, reviews, communications, and escalation paths.
Exceptional data and record discipline. In this role, configuration accuracy is operationally and potentially regulatorily consequential.
Clear written and verbal communication with both engineers and business leaders.
Willingness and ability to spend time with field technicians, operators, production teams, and deployed sites to deeply understand fleet allocation impacts.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with reliability engineering, maintainability, spares planning, technical publications, training readiness, and regulatory change incorporation.
SQL, spreadsheet modeling, BI, or other analytical skills sufficient to independently evaluate fleet scenarios.

Responsibilities

Strategically planning the makeup of the autonomous aircraft fleet.
Evaluating tradeoffs for the business with respect to hardware releases, retrofit campaigns, and fleet allocation.
Managing the variations across the fleet and ensuring that new hardware configurations are deployed in a controlled and organized manner.
Determining which existing assets in the P2 Fleet (ziplines, pods, docks, and dropboxes) should receive hardware upgrades, which should not, the appropriate timescales for each, and how these configurations should be allocated across sites, partners, and business needs.
Reviewing proposed hardware changes to Zipline’s fleet prior to manufacturing cut-in for feasibility and operational process readiness.
Evaluating the costs & benefits of deploying proposed hardware changes to the operating fleet; defining fleet allocation plans and retrofit campaigns with these insights.
Project-managing the operations team’s review of new hardware adjustments – the Commercial Operations Readiness Review - to confirm field-readiness; channeling negative feedback to the responsible engineers.
Building the system to manage Operations’ review of all incoming tickets / concepts from Engineering; program managing the timely feedback and decision on proposals.
Program-managing the fixtures and tools and testers required to execute and support a hardware change and ensuring clear ownership of any changes required to the tooling, parts, and workflows of operations.
Planning and sequencing retrofits as necessary; ensuring readiness for parts supply, labor resourcing and training, and progress tracking.
Tracking and managing asset configuration allocations across commercial and partner locations.