New Deployments Lead

Job title : New Deployments Lead

About You And The Role

• Zipline is scaling nationwide medical delivery in Nigeria using long‑range autonomous aircraft. As the New Deployments Lead, Nigeria (senior individual contributor/people‑leader), you will own end-to-end delivery and launch readiness for Zipline sites so hospitals, clinics, and health systems reliably receive life‑saving products on schedule. You will operate at the nexus of construction, aviation regulation, supplier networks, and in‑country operations, translating Zipline’s global operational and safety standards into sites that are permitted, built, commissioned, and ready for flight operations. This role is high‑ownership and high‑intensity: you will be accountable for delivering the country deployment plan on schedule, within budget, and to measurable reliability and quality thresholds while building and leading the Nigeria deployments organization.

What You'll Do

• Own full lifecycle delivery and formal operational handover for all new Zipline sites in Nigeria: site selection input, permitting and approvals, civil/electrical/communications construction, systems commissioning, safety acceptance, aviation clearance, and transfer to Operations.
• Manage a portfolio of deployments (up to 12 total; concurrently up to 6 active sites), maintaining an integrated program plan with clear dependencies, critical paths, resource allocations, risk register, and escalation points.
• Define, enforce, and report launch‑readiness acceptance criteria for each site as binary milestones plus percent‑complete against baseline (examples: permits approved, infrastructure to spec, power/comm uptime targets, systems commissioned, safety validations, aviation clearance). Drive acceptance tests and defect thresholds at handover.
• Own program outcomes and tradeoffs: schedule adherence (plan vs. actual), budget variance (% and absolute), reliability/quality metrics at handover (defect rate, commissioning pass rate), and sites launched per quarter. Authorize corrective actions and rebalancing of scope/resources to protect safety, schedule, and budget.
• Build, hire, and lead the Nigeria deployments team (project/program managers and site leads); directly manage external consultants, contractors, and on‑site supervisors during execution. Clarify reporting lines and decision authority with Country and Global Leadership.
• Manage vendors and contractors end‑to‑end: scopes, contracts, schedules, costs, quality control, and on‑site supervision of civil, electrical, and communications work. Hold vendors to measurable acceptance tests and enforce remediation for defects.
• Coordinate daily with Operations, Safety, Engineering, Supply Chain, Regulatory, and Country Leadership to resolve design, procurement, certification, and operational readiness issues that impact launch readiness.
• Own in‑country deployment budgets and financial tracking; report variance explanations and corrective plans to country and global stakeholders.
• Capture lessons learned and continuously improve Zipline’s deployment playbook, SOPs, commissioning checklists, and acceptance criteria to reduce defects and accelerate future launches.

What You'll Bring

• 8+ years of relevant experience in construction, infrastructure delivery, engineering, or technical program management, including at least 3 years leading teams or complex programs and demonstrable hands‑on field delivery experience.
• Proven track record delivering multiple technically complex infrastructure projects concurrently through permitting, commissioning, and handover; experience in Nigeria strongly preferred.
• Direct experience interacting with Nigerian regulatory bodies (aviation or infrastructure) and securing site permits/approvals for regulated projects.
• Practical, demonstrable experience managing contractors and on‑site civil, electrical, and communications works and driving commissioning to measurable acceptance criteria and defect thresholds.
• Strong program management discipline: integrated schedules, resource and contingency planning, budget ownership, risk register management, and decisiveness to make program tradeoffs.
• Metrics‑driven: able to define, track, and report binary launch milestones, schedule variance, budget variance, and basic reliability/quality metrics at handover.
• Comfortable operating in high‑intensity, ambiguous field environments with variable site conditions and supply‑chain constraints; able and willing to spend significant time on active sites.
• Excellent stakeholder management and clear written and verbal communication with technical, regulatory, community, and executive partners.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently across Nigeria and be on‑site for extended deployment phases; must be based in or able to relocate to Nigeria for the role.
• Legal authorization to work in Nigeria; Zipline may provide sponsorship where applicable.
• Must be a licensed civil engineer.