Head of Maintenance, Australia

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.

Head of Maintenance, Australia

Location: Central Coast, NSW | Team: Australia Operations

About Zipline

Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our autonomous drone delivery technology is changing last mile logistics across the world - from powering critical blood delivery in Rwanda to providing a faster and better way to deliver orders for retail and restaurant partners in the US and Australia.

The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a logistics system that delivers what you need, when you need it. Using AI and autonomous robotics, Zipline is decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and providing equitable access to billions of people.

We are a bunch of passionate and pragmatic problem solvers - who believe it's possible to build a business that is both good for the world and commercially successful. If this sounds like you, join us on our journey.

We will be launching our first operations in Australia in 2027, and are now hiring key operational roles to help us prepare and build something great.

About You & the Role

Zipline’s operations depend on aircraft and systems that are safe, compliant, and ready to perform. As Head of Maintenance for our launch sites in Australia, you will drive all aspects of aircraft and ground systems maintenance for Zipline in Australia. - turning inspections, repairs, and aircraft intake into reliable operational availability.

You will establish and lead a team of supervisors and technicians, while staying hands-on in the maintenance environment given our start up phase in Australia. You will make airworthiness decisions within approved maintenance procedures, escalate engineering or compliance questions through the appropriate channels, and build the shop-floor and operational discipline that supports dependable growth. You will also be the CASA registered Maintenance Controller for Zipline Australia.

This role will initially support operations in the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie areas just north of Sydney, where we will first launch our operations in 2027. Over time, it is expected that the leadership scope of this role will evolve as our operations expand to other metros. The ideal candidate is someone who is willing to grow with us on this journey, whilst still maintaining a player coach approach.

Success requires a strong field presence, disciplined follow-through, and the ability to influence cross-functional international teams without direct authority. Your ultimate goal is to optimize fleet readiness, maintenance throughput, safety, and operational consistency.

What You’ll Do

• Lead daily maintenance execution and approved airworthiness determinations for local systems and fleet assets.
• Own workflow from asset receiving and conformity checks through inspection, repair, documentation, and return-to-service coordination.
• Set maintenance schedules, shift coverage, backlog priorities, and work-in-progress to meet operational readiness goals.
• Conduct maintenance planning to support continued airworthiness and fleet health programs.
• Hire, coach and lead technicians and supervisors to high performance levels through training, clear expectations, direct feedback, and performance accountability.
• Track and improve asset downtime, uptime, turnaround, first-time-fix quality, backlog closure, and technician productivity.
• Enforce maintenance SOPs, safety protocols, qualification practices, and audit-ready recordkeeping.
• Partner with engineering and compliance to root-cause recurring issues, resolve escalations, and improve maintenance processes.
• Monitor performance KPIs and ensure the safe and efficient execution of maintenance operations.
• Act as Maintenance Controller under Zipline Australia's ReOC with CASA.
• Operate as part of a global maintenance team, and act as the key connection point between Australia and HQ maintenance teams

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of hands-on maintenance, fleet management, service-operations, or technical leadership experience in automotive, autonomy, aviation, or a related field.
• Experience in establishing, building and leading operational teams
• Experience leading daily execution in a safety-sensitive or regulated maintenance environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage inspections, repairs, maintenance backlogs, and return-to-service workflows.
• Ability to earn and maintain Zipline Repairman certification for authorized safety-sensitive maintenance functions.
• Sound judgment applying approved procedures, identifying nonconformances, and escalating engineering or compliance questions.
• A record of improving system availability, turnaround, quality, or technician productivity through disciplined operating practices.
• Ability to work onsite in Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast, and flex with shift operations as site needs change.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.