Zipline Technical Program Manager, Deployments Vacancy in Lagos

Employer: Zipline
Role: Technical Program Manager, Deployments
Focus: Distribution-centre launches in Nigeria
Location: Lagos is among the listed African hub options
Travel: Within Nigeria and internationally

About Zipline

Zipline designs and operates autonomous delivery systems that transport medical supplies, food and other essential goods. Its African operations depend on coordinated aviation, logistics, engineering and distribution-site teams.

Role overview

Take responsibility for the integrated programme that delivers new Nigerian distribution centres. Coordinate local and global teams across engineering, construction, procurement, shipping, regulation, software, operations, hiring and training so sites are ready to launch safely, on schedule and within cost targets.

Programme responsibilities

• Own the master deployment plan for concurrent launches, integrated schedules, dependencies and critical milestones.
• Maintain a shared view of programme health, site readiness and decisions.
• Identify risks early, assign workstream owners and escalation routes, and align delivery with country and customer commitments.
• Coordinate rapid problem-solving during commissioning and launch.
• Build reusable dashboards, templates, stage gates, playbooks and readiness checklists.
• Track schedule, cost, execution quality and readiness; use lessons from completed launches to improve subsequent deployments.
• Lead weekly reviews, executive updates, risk reviews, readiness decisions and post-launch retrospectives.
• Improve the deployment model towards faster, more predictable and economical launches, with a long-term target below three months per new distribution centre.

Required experience

• At least six years leading complex technical, infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, deployment, operational or supply-chain programmes.
• Direct accountability for schedule, cost and quality across multiple organizations and long-lead dependencies.
• Experience launching physical infrastructure or real-world operating systems; Nigeria or comparable-market experience is strongly preferred.
• Integrated planning, critical-path and dependency management, risk mitigation and escalation skills.
• Experience creating readiness gates, schedules, programme dashboards and repeatable execution processes.
• Practical use of tools such as Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Primavera, Jira or Airtable, together with AI and KPI dashboards.
• Clear communication, influence without direct authority and effective collaboration across cultures and time zones.

Working conditions and essential track record

• Regular domestic and international travel, with flexibility outside normal hours during major launches.
• Comfort with uncertainty, rapid change and safety-sensitive or regulated operations.
• Previous ownership of integrated schedules spanning engineering, procurement or manufacturing, shipping and regulation.
• Demonstrated improvements in launch readiness, schedule reliability, quality or deployment costs.
• Personal experience driving delivery through execution as well as planning and status reporting.

How to apply and documents

Open the official vacancy and complete the application form with your contact details, current location and employment background. Upload a CV in PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT or RTF format. Complete the other required questions before submitting; a cover letter can be added where the form provides that option.

Official details and application ↗