Head of Global Supplier Industrialization

About Zipline

Do you want to change the world Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the worlds most urgent and complex access challenges by building manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally wherever they are. From powering Rwandas national blood delivery network and Ghanas COVID-19 vaccine distribution to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes we are transforming the way things move for businesses governments and consumers. The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need when you need it. Through our technology that includes robotics and autonomy we are decarbonizing delivery decreasing road congestion and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.

Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.

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 Ziplines 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 Youll Do

• Full accountability for supplier readiness: every new program and every major ramp must pass through your organizations 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 Ziplines 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 1236 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

• Bachelors 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 (<5K units/yr) to full-rate production (>100K units/yr) while achieving Cp/Cpk 1.67 and GR&R (Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility) < 10% on critical characteristics.
• 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 520d revenue in <5 years).
• Willing and able to travel internationally 4050% (including 24 week stints in Asia during critical ramps).

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters 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 Ziplines 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 chaindata-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 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 final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors including a specific candidates 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!