Senior Manager - Field Operations and Programs

Reports to: Program Director
Level: Senior Manager
Manages: Program Managers

Role Purpose

The Senior Manager (SM) provides senior leadership for field operations and program implementation, ensuring high-quality delivery, scalable systems, and strong people management across programs. The role owns field execution standards, operational systems, and talent development, while Program Managers retain accountability for day-to-day delivery and the Program Director retains accountability for country-level execution and strategy.

The Senior Manager acts as the bridge between strategy and execution, translating Program Director priorities into strong operational practice across teams.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Field Operations Leadership (Standards & Performance)

• Provide senior oversight of field operations across programs, ensuring consistent implementation quality, data integrity, and adherence to operational standards.
• Hold Program Managers and Field Managers accountable for meeting delivery targets (e.g., households enrolled, efficiency benchmarks, recipient experience).
• Conduct periodic field visits to assess system effectiveness, implementation quality, and staff performance.
• Identify cross-program delivery challenges and escalate systemic issues to the Program Director with proposed solutions.
• Review and endorse operational pilots and targeting approaches before scale, assessing feasibility, efficiency, and risk.
• Serve as the escalation point for cross-program operational risks prior to Program Director involvement.

2. Systems Building & Operational Model Improvement

• Own continuous improvement of the field delivery model, with a focus on scalability, efficiency, and reliability.
• Lead initiatives to:
• Strengthen data quality assurance systems
• Improve backend checks and automation
• Integrate technology into enrollment, monitoring, and follow-up protocols
• Oversee risk mitigation plans proposed by Program, Product, and Field Managers, particularly for:
• Complex pilots or research partnerships
• Operational slowdowns or delivery risks
• Ensure operational systems remain aligned with Program Director priorities and organizational strategy.

3. Senior People Management & Talent Development

• Foster a high-performance culture across field teams, emphasizing accountability, feedback, and professional growth.
• Directly manage senior field staff (e.g., Program Managers, Field Managers), setting expectations for strong people management at all levels.
• Oversee hiring plans for field teams, supporting managers in recruitment, onboarding, and training where needed.
• Lead performance reviews for direct reports and build their capacity to conduct effective reviews for their teams.
• Identify high-potential staff and, in partnership with managers, support accelerated development and promotion pathways.
• Identify structural gaps or inefficiencies in field team org charts and propose resourcing or design adjustments to the Program Director.

4. Data, Performance Monitoring & Decision Support

• Use data to monitor field and program performance, identify trends, and inform operational improvements.
• Oversee survey design and updates for new and existing programs, ensuring alignment with program objectives and data quality standards.
• Coach teams on effective use of data for problem-solving and performance management.
  • Act as the primary interface with GiveDirectly’s global data teams for field-related needs, ensuring clarity of requirements and adherence to timelines.
  • Synthesize data into clear insights and recommendations for the Program Director and management team.

5. Cross-Functional Coordination & Internal Communication

• Partner with Product, Data, Finance, and Operations teams to ensure field execution supports program objectives and product priorities.
• Communicate clearly and concisely across written, verbal, and presentation formats.
• Present regularly to internal leadership on field performance, risks, and improvement initiatives.

6. External Support 

• Support the Program Director and Country Director in donor visits and external engagements by providing operational and field context.
• Assist in internal rollout of new programs, pilots, or technologies by ensuring field teams are prepared, informed, and aligned.

Desired Qualifications:

• Minimum 5 years of work experience in a problem-solving heavy role (field management, consulting, analytics)
• Exceptional ability to work analytically through complex operational questions & run robust analyses to inform management and programming decisions
• Strong communications skills, including speaking, writing, presenting, and negotiating across diverse audiences
• Strong operational acumen (including ability to rapidly get up-to-speed on GD field model)
• Experience with field work, field data collection
• Ability to approach tasks with resourcefulness and to work in a highly self-directed manner
• Ability to manage day-to-day operations while simultaneously working to build and institutionalize more robust, efficient systems
• Passion for the role cash transfers can play in giving recipients choice & driving impact at scale 
• Strong interest in advancing the values and mission of GiveDirectly

**GD is committed to observing all local, national and international laws that protect children, vulnerable adults, and basic human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH)” and expects anyone who works for GD to uphold the protection and safeguarding of our recipients as a priority.**

About You and the Role

We are seeking a Technical Program Manager to support Autonomy Data and Maps Operations for autonomous drone systems. As the Technical Program Manager for Autonomy Data and Maps Operations, you will own and scale how we produce autonomy data and maps so our drone systems can reliably operate in the real world. This role is responsible for turning messy, manual operational workflows into efficient, scalable, and high-quality systems by partnering closely with engineering. In practice, you’ll run the day-to-day map and data operations while also driving the tooling, automation, and process changes needed to support rapid growth.

This role sits at the intersection of machine learning data production, map curation, and platform enablement, and is responsible for translating real-world operational work into reliable, scalable inputs for autonomy development and deployment.

The TPM will own not only the day-to-day execution of autonomy data and map operations, but also the cross-functional engineering work required to scale those operations through better tooling, workflow redesign, and automation. This person will be expected to learn the current map creation and data production processes end-to-end, identify where they will break as we scale, and guide the engineering effort to define and implement how we should work in the future.

We value people who take ownership of outcomes, not just responsibilities; you’ll be identifying systemic bottlenecks early, driving clarity for complex decisions, and ensuring work gets completed even when challenges fall outside traditional role boundaries.

What You'll Do

Program Execution & Coordination

• Drive day-to-day execution of data and map curation programs used for ML development
• Own end-to-end map creation and delivery across planning, curation, validation, release readiness, and handoff to downstream users
• Coordinate across autonomy teams, engineering partners, and external vendors as needed
• Track progress, dependencies, risks, and timelines across multiple concurrent workstreams
• Drive clear operating procedures and decision-making across operations and engineering stakeholders
• Structure ambiguous work into executable plans and proactively manage delivery risk

Autonomy Data & Map Operations

• Learn and deeply understand current-state data and map production workflows, including where manual effort, quality escapes, and handoff friction exist
• Identify the process, tooling, and systems changes needed to scale map creation and data operations as demand grows and the business scales
• Translate operational pain points into clear engineering problem statements, requirements, and prioritized roadmaps
• Partner with Maps, Autonomy, and Data Platform engineering teams to drive implementation of automation, tooling, and workflow redesign
• Define future-state operating models for end-to-end map creation that improve throughput, quality, and predictability
• Ensure new tools and workflows are adopted successfully by operations teams and measurably improve performance

Cross-Functional & Platform Collaboration

• Act as the conduit between operations and engineering
• Translate operational pain points (manual work, bottlenecks, errors, scale limitations) into clear problem statements for tooling or feature development
• Have a sense for product and partner with Data Platform to shape requirements, prioritize work, and validate solutions
• Support rollout and adoption of new tools or workflows back into operations

Continuous Improvement

• Identify inefficiencies and failure patterns in data and map operations
• Propose process improvements, automation opportunities, and clearer ownership models
• Help standardize workflows while preserving flexibility for new sites, regions, or vehicle capabilities

What You’ll Bring

• Experience & Mindset:
• 2–4 years of experience in technical program management, data operations, program management, or similar roles
• Experience working with cross-functional technical teams (engineering, operations, ML data, or GIS)
• Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple parallel workstreams
• Comfort working in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
• Ability to break down complex, loosely defined problems into actionable plans
• Experience leading operational transformation, process redesign, or automation efforts in partnership with engineering teams
• Ability to understand current-state workflows in depth and translate them into scalable future-state systems and operating models

• Technical & Program Skills:
  • Proven ability to manage complex cross-functional programs across scope, schedule, risks, dependencies, and milestones
  • Strong systems thinking, with the ability to quickly learn unfamiliar technical domains and understand tradeoffs
  • Experience translating operational workflows and pain points into engineering requirements, tooling needs, or product features
  • Familiarity with data operations concepts such as annotation workflows, QA/QC, data pipelines, validation, or storage
  • Proficiency with project/program management tools such as Jira, Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, or similar
  • Ability to define and improve operational metrics such as throughput, quality, reliability, latency, or delivery predictability

• Communication:
  
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • Strong facilitation skills, with the ability to guide discussions, clarify decisions, and align diverse teams
  • Ability to influence without authority and drive change across operations and engineering teams
  • Adaptable and resilient when introducing new processes, tools, or operating models

Nice to Have

• Background in autonomous systems, robotics, drones, or AVs
• Experience with GIS, mapping platforms, or spatial data
• Exposure to data platform concepts (pipelines, ingestion, storage, validation)
• Experience working with vendors or distributed operations teams
• Experience with SQL or data analytics

What Else You Need To Know

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!

--

Please Note

We have received reports stating that certain individuals are reaching out to people under false pretenses, claiming to be Zipline employees, affiliates, agents, or representatives. They may seek to gain access to your personal information or to acquire money from you by offering fictitious employment opportunities or by claiming that they are contacting you on Zipline’s behalf.

Genuine Zipline employees or representatives will never ask you for money or payment in exchange for employment opportunities or other related services. Any such offer of employment or any other service in exchange for fees that claims to be from us is deceitful and part of a fraud.

If you believe you have been targeted by a fraudulent party, we ask that you immediately get in touch with us via email at security@flyzipline.com upon receiving a suspicious offer or claim.