Senior Manager, Global Supplier Industrialization

Company: Zipline
Location: South San Francisco
Posted on: April 2, 2026

Job Description:

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 Zipline is scaling drone production and flight operations by more than 20× over the next three years while maintaining best-in-class safety and reliability. You will own the entire supplier industrialization and supplier development engineering functions — building the team, processes, tools, and culture that make Zipline’s massive scale-up possible without compromising quality, delivery, or cost. This role reports to the VP of Supply Chain, and will have 10-15 direct reports. What You'll Do Full accountability for supplier readiness: every new program and every major ramp must pass through your organization’s technical gates before volume commitments are made. Build and lead a world-class team of Supplier Quality Engineers (SQEs), Industrialization Engineers, and NPI/Development Engineers Design and enforce Zipline’s global Supplier Industrialization Framework from first principles: Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) with Zipline-specific submission requirements (FAI (“First Article Inspection”), PSW (“Part Submission Warrant”), dimensional reports, material certifications, process capability, etc.) Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) moderation and risk buy-off methodology Run-at-Rate and ramp validation protocols Process capability roadmaps (Cpk targets, statistical process controls) Supplier scorecard system (OTD (“On-Time Delivery”), PPM (“Parts Per Million” defect rate), capacity utilization, cost-reduction delivery, risk) Digital interface collaboration with Software leadership to ensure issue tickets and RCCA are documented and routed back to suppliers Creation of robust, first-principles based should-cost modeling methodology. Build and maintain bottoms-up, parametric should-cost models for every critical commodity (carbon-fiber aero structures, high power density Li-ion battery packs, brushless propulsion motors, avionics/powertrain PCBAs, precision-machined flight-critical parts, ground systems hardware, etc). Your models will be the source of truth for commercial negotiation benchmarking, make-vs-buy decisions, and annual cost-reduction targets. Lead technical deep dives with suppliers on Design for Manufacturability/Assembly (DFM/A), automation ROI, tooling investment, and value-engineering initiatives driven directly from should-cost models. Develop dynamic capacity modeling tools that forecast supplier output 12–36 months forward under multiple demand scenarios, including the rate improvement action tracking systems needed to ensure industrialization risks are understood and mitigated Act as the final technical gatekeeper in Production Readiness Reviews (PRRs) and PPAP/FAI sign-off Basic Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Aerospace, Manufacturing, or Electrical Engineering. 8-15 years in supplier quality, supplier development, or manufacturing/industrialization engineering in safety-critical or regulated hardware. 8 years directly managing and scaling technical teams of 10 engineers (hiring, mentoring, org design, span-of-control optimization). Multiple end-to-end APQP (“Advanced Product Quality Planning”) and PPAP (“Production Part Approval Process”) cycles personally led from kick-off through PSW approval in aerospace, automotive Tier-1, medical device (Class II/III), or high-volume consumer electronics. Proven track record taking at least three complex suppliers from prototype/low-rate ( 100K units/yr) while achieving Cp/Cpk ? 1.67 and GR&R (“Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility”) Expert-level command of GD&T (“Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing”), MSA (“Measurement System Analysis”), SPC (“Statistical Process Control”), FAI per AS9102, PFMEA, Control Plans, and DOE (“Design of Experiments”). Hands-on experience building and defending bottom-up should-cost models that drove >15% cost reduction on programs exceeding $50M annual spend. Demonstrated ability to create new processes and tools in high-growth, ambiguous environments (startups or business units that 5×–20×’d revenue in Willing and able to travel internationally 40–50% (including 2–4 week stints in Asia during critical ramps). Preferred Qualifications Master’s degree in Engineering or MBA from a top university 5 years in certified aerospace (Part 21/145), eVTOL, automotive, or autonomous vehicle programs with direct FAA/EASA/NTSB exposure. Deep domain expertise in one or more of Zipline’s core commodities listed above. Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt with completed DMAIC projects delivering substantial annualized savings. Personally built and institutionalized should-cost platforms (using Excel Python, Costimator, aPriori, or custom tools) that became the standard for an entire company or division. Former leadership roles at top firms, such as SpaceX, Tesla, Joby, Archer, Google, Anduril, Rivian, Lucid, DJI, Boston Dynamics, Apple hardware, or Tier-1 aerospace suppliers Leadership Expectations Exceptional ability to hire top 5% A-players and keep them challenged and growing You are the technical conscience of the supply chain—data-driven, willing to kill or delay a ramp when data demands it, and able to persuade executives with rigorous analysis. You obsess over root cause and preventive systems; firefighting is a process failure on your watch. You treat cost as a design parameter: your should-cost models are proactive weapons to minimize the negotiation loop and drive best-in-class commercial outcomes What Else You Need to Know This role is an in office role based out of our South San Francisco HQ with a minimum of 5 days a week in office. Must be eligible to work in the US and travel globally as needed. This role will require travel of 25-50% of the time to visit Suppliers, and Zipline will work together with you to make sure that this is possible. The starting cash range for this role is $225,000 - $275,000. 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; 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, 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!

Keywords: Zipline, Gilroy , Senior Manager, Global Supplier Industrialization, Engineering , South San Francisco, California