Staff Flight Test Operator, Esparto
About Zipline
Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products.
Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.
Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe.
We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds.
About You and The Role
The Staff Flight Test Operator is a technical leader responsible for planning, prioritization, execution, and continuous improvement of Zipline’s large scale, flight testing operation. This role blends deep systems-level engineering thinking with hands-on flight operations expertise to ensure we test the right things, at the right time, with precision, velocity, and uncompromising safety.
You will own the integration and execution of complex test campaigns, resolve technical blockers, raise and mitigate risks, and translate flight test results into actionable engineering insights. You will also lead multi-week validation campaigns, manage resources and infrastructure bring-up, and pioneer new tools and processes that expand the throughput and quality of Zipline’s flight testing capability.
This role requires someone who thrives at the intersection of engineering, operations, and leadership, jumping into detailed data analysis or debugging, and guiding teams through ambiguous, high-stakes challenges.
What You'll Do
- Serve as a senior cross-functional leader, aligning Design Engineering, Flight Test Engineering, Operations, and site leadership.
- Work with engineering teams to prioritize test execution - ensuring the highest-value tests are executed first.
- Manage resource planning, and infrastructure bring-up for major validation campaigns.
- Execute complex flight tests, including prelight instrumentation, monitoring of automated tests, incident response, and data collection.
- Rapidly debug and resolve flight test issues across hardware, software, controls, and operations.
- Analyze flight data to identify anomalies, validate performance, and recommend next steps.
- Generate clear, actionable test reports that drive engineering decision-making.
- Support FAA Type Certification activities by executing specific test protocols, demonstrations, and documentation tasks.
- Identify and lead operational process, software tooling, and infrastructure improvements to increase test precision, insights, capacity, and velocity.
- Serve as shift lead when needed, ensuring safe, high quality, and well coordinated test execution.
- Mentor and support junior flight test operators, offering guidance, training, removing blockers, reinforcing SOP compliance and improving their technical and operational performance.
- Travel to support flight operations at different test sites as needed.
- Flexibility to work an array of schedule structures including, but not limited to: day, swing, nights, weekends, rotational.
What You'll Bring
- Technical degree in an Engineering, Unmanned Aerial System, Aviation or related discipline or equivalent experience.
- At least two plus years of experience in aviation, robotics, or autonomous systems testing.
- You enjoy work that gets you out from behind a desk, in the field, and working with our hardware and software in action.
- You excel in autonomous, dynamic environments where priorities shift and proactive execution matters.
- You have the vigilance and focus to conduct extended daily flight operations in a safe manner and with a focus on optimizing on a daily basis.
- Strong communication skills - able to translate complex technical insights for diverse stakeholders.
- Ability to make timely, sound decisions.
- You are able to lift up to 25kg objects regularly.
What Else You Need to Know
Please note that you:
Must be willing to work some nights/weekends.
Must be a US citizen or Permanent Resident.
Part 107 License Preferred, and required prior to starting.
Must be able to relocate to Yolo County, CA
The starting cash range for this role is $43 - $50/ hour. 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; overtime pay; 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, 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 or our own sensibilities.
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!