About the Role

As the Test Maintenance Program Manager, you will own the planning, tracking, and cross-functional execution of test maintenance workstreams across Zipline’s test operations footprint, including NestZ, Nest0, Truckzilla, Cascades, and future test sites.

You’ll partner closely with the Test Maintenance Lead, Flight Test, Engineering, Product, and site operations teams to ensure maintenance needs are built into test campaigns early, blockers are tracked to closure, and test aircraft remain ready to support flight test priorities. This role is responsible for creating visibility across test maintenance programs, managing dependencies, tracking readiness, and ensuring lessons from test maintenance are converted into scalable process, tooling, documentation, and commercial readiness improvements.

This role requires a highly organized operator who can manage ambiguity, drive follow-through across teams, and translate day-to-day test maintenance needs into structured programs with clear owners, milestones, risks, and outcomes.

What You’ll Do

• Own program management for test maintenance workstreams across NestZ, Nest0, Truckzilla, Cascades, and future test sites
• Partner with the Test Maintenance Lead to translate floor-level execution needs into program plans, action tracking, and cross-functional closure
• Manage test campaign maintenance readiness, including tooling, parts, documentation, technician training, configuration status, inspection needs, and return-to-service assumptions
• Serve as the primary programmatic link between Maintenance Operations Engineering, Flight Test, Engineering, Product, and test site operations
• Track milestones, blockers, owners, risks, and decisions for active test maintenance programs
• Maintain visibility into test aircraft configuration, hardware modifications, inspection status, backlog, and maintenance readiness
• Manage and update test maintenance change-control workflows, including hardware modification tracking and configuration audit follow-up
• Create regular Test Maintenance Program Updates summarizing active workstreams, blockers, decisions needed, and impacts to test maintenance operations
• Ensure test-site maintenance learnings are captured and translated into standard work, tooling requirements, documentation updates, training inputs, and commercial handoff criteria
• Develop dashboards or metrics to track readiness, blocker closure, return-to-service performance, validation campaign progress, and improvement impact

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in program management, operations management, maintenance operations, test operations, engineering operations, or a related technical field
• Experience managing cross-functional workstreams across operations, engineering, product, and execution teams
• Strong ability to manage multiple programs with clear ownership, follow-through, and stakeholder alignment
• Experience with test operations, aircraft maintenance, fleet operations, robotics, aerospace, aviation, hardware development, or other complex technical environments
• Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to create clarity in fast-moving and ambiguous environments
• Ability to track risks, dependencies, blockers, and decisions across multiple teams and workstreams
• High attention to detail, especially around configuration tracking, change control, documentation, readiness planning, and operational handoffs
• Experience using tools such as Jira, Confluence, Slack, spreadsheets, dashboards, or equivalent project-management systems
• Ability to connect tactical execution issues to program-level planning and long-term operating model improvements
• Use maintenance data, dashboards, and operational metrics to identify trends, quantify blockers, and support prioritization across test maintenance workstreams.

Success Metrics

• On-time delivery of test maintenance workstreams and campaign readiness milestones
• Improved visibility into test maintenance priorities, blockers, risks, and cross-functional dependencies
• Consistent configuration tracking and audit readiness across active test aircraft
• Reduction in maintenance-related blockers impacting flight test velocity
• Improved return-to-service readiness through better planning, communication, and dependency management
• Reduced technician and lead administrative burden through stronger program tracking and communication systems
• Timely closure of hardware modification, documentation, tooling, and process-change actions
• Successful execution of maintenance validation campaigns and scale/no-scale decisions
• Clear handoff of test maintenance learnings into tooling, documentation, standard work, training, and commercial readiness criteria

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is $95,000-$130,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies.
 
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!