Senior Flight Test Operator, Half Moon Bay

Confirmed live in the last 24 hours

Zipline

Compensation

$44.00 - $51.00/hr

Half Moon Bay, California, USA

On-site

Posted March 27, 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

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

Own and execute flight test operations across multiple aircraft platforms, including prototype and early production systems
Perform preflight validation, instrumentation setup, flight execution, monitoring, and post-flight data collection
Troubleshoot and resolve issues across electromechanical systems, flight controls, and software, escalating when needed
Partner with engineering teams to align on test objectives, priorities, and success criteria
Analyze flight data to identify anomalies, validate performance, and recommend next steps
Generate clear and structured test documentation and reports to support engineering decision-making
Support execution of larger validation and certification campaigns, including defined test protocols and procedures
Contribute to the development and improvement of operational processes, checklists, and tooling
Help coordinate test activities on shift, ensuring safe and efficient execution
Mentor and support junior flight test operators, reinforcing best practices and SOP compliance
Maintain safety standards in a fast-paced test environment, proactively identifying and mitigating risk
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, rotationa