Manager, Maintenance Operations

Zipline•Fort Worth, TX

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service, aiming to serve all humans equally by providing access to essential goods. The company designs, builds, and operates an autonomous logistics system, making millions of deliveries globally. Zipline operates on four continents and is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food. The company seeks practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth, motivated by building systems with a direct, meaningful impact. As Manager, Maintenance Operations, you will provide operational oversight, program management, and problem-solving leadership for maintenance execution across Texas, with potential to support broader Southwest Region operations. Reporting to the Regional Director of Maintenance Operations, this role translates regional priorities into site-level execution, driving operating cadence, improving maintenance performance, removing blockers, and ensuring safe and consistent team execution. Success requires strong field presence, disciplined follow-through, and the ability to influence without direct reporting authority, ultimately strengthening fleet readiness, maintenance throughput, safety, quality, and operational consistency.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in service operations, fleet operations, technical operations, aerospace, robotics, manufacturing maintenance, or another high-reliability hardware environment.
Experience providing operational leadership in a fast-paced maintenance or technical environment.
Strong understanding of work-order flow, inspections, preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, return-to-service processes, tooling, parts readiness, and documentation discipline.
Demonstrated ability to manage KPIs, diagnose performance gaps, and drive measurable improvement.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to turn field observations and data into clear actions.
Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive accountability without direct reporting authority.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to clarify priorities, escalate risks, and align stakeholders.
Willingness to travel across assigned geographical territory and periodically support other regional operations as business needs require.

Responsibilities

Help lead the daily and weekly operating rhythm for assigned maintenance operations, ensuring teams are focused on the right priorities and risks are surfaced early.
Use metrics, field insight, and structured problem solving to improve uptime, repair flow, backlog control, and execution quality.
Partner cross-functionally with Flight Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, Training, Safety, Quality, and Business Operations to resolve issues impacting fleet readiness.
Support launches, expansions, retrofits, process improvements, and other regional priorities.
Ensure maintenance standards are consistently understood, followed, and improved as operations scale.
Drive maintenance execution across assigned Texas operations and support broader regional priorities as needed.
Establish and maintain operating cadence for metrics, backlog reviews, escalations, recovery plans, and action follow-up.
Provide dotted-line leadership to Maintenance Leads, Associate Leads, and site maintenance teams.
Monitor and improve key maintenance metrics, including uptime, repair turnaround time, technician efficiency, backlog aging, and repeat defects.
Identify operational blockers and coordinate cross-functional solutions related to parts, tooling, staffing, documentation, training, and technical issues.
Lead maintenance improvement initiatives from diagnosis through implementation.
Support safety, quality, procedural adherence, record accuracy, and audit readiness.
Assist with launch readiness, site expansion, fleet upgrades, retrofits, and regional maintenance programs.