Production Planner

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 the Role As a Production Planner, you will drive build readiness and manufacturing execution across both NPI and production environments. This role combines production planning, manufacturing execution, and operational leadership across rapidly evolving production environments. You will be responsible for aligning labor, material readiness, and production priorities to support aggressive build targets in a fast-changing manufacturing environment. You will play a key role in scaling manufacturing operations and shaping how production execution evolves as Zipline grows. The ideal candidate is highly organized, execution-oriented, comfortable operating under ambiguity, and capable of bringing structure to fast-changing manufacturing operations without relying on perfect systems or excessive process overhead. What You’ll Do Own production readiness and execution across critical production areas and programs Build and maintain production plans that align build targets, labor capacity, material readiness, and operational priorities  Plan labor allocation, production scheduling, and execution priorities to support daily and weekly build goals Lead cross-functional coordination across Production, Supply Chain, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and NPI teams Ensure material availability supports build schedules and production priorities Identify and resolve material shortages, labor constraints, and operational blockers before production impact Coordinate material flow across receiving, inspection, warehouse, staging/overflow, and production execution areas Monitor production progress, WIP status, and execution risks to help drive schedule recovery and build completion Support rapidly changing engineering priorities, substitutions, and evolving BOM configurations Identify operational gaps and drive practical improvements to production readiness, material flow, and manufacturing execution Drive labor flexibility and coordinate with Production leadership to ensure sufficient cross-training and coverage across production areas to support changing build priorities, schedule recovery, and execution continuity What You’ll Bring 5+ years of experience in production planning, manufacturing operations, supply chain, NPI, or manufacturing execution environments Experience supporting both NPI and production operations in fast-changing manufacturing environments Strong ability to balance labor planning, material readiness, production priorities, and operational constraints Highly organized, execution-oriented, and comfortable operating under ambiguity and evolving priorities Proven ability to drive cross-functional coordination and resolve operational blockers in rapidly changing environments Strong operational instincts and problem-solving skills with the ability to improve manufacturing flow, execution efficiency, and scalable operations in fast-changing environments Proven ability to work cross-functionally across Production, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, and NPI teams Experience with ERP/MRP systems and production/inventory planning workflows Experience supporting engineering changes, substitutions, and evolving BOM configurations with minimal disruption to production Experience in aerospace, robotics, drones, automotive, or advanced hardware manufacturing environments preferred Major Bonuses Advanced degree in Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Manufacturing, or related technical fields Experience supporting high-mix, low-volume, or highly complex electro-mechanical manufacturing operations Familiarity with MES systems, digital manufacturing tools, or manufacturing system implementations Experience working within gated development, NPI, or phase-based manufacturing environments Background in aerospace, robotics, UAV, automotive, or other high-reliability hardware manufacturing industries What Else You Need To Know The starting cash range for this role is $118,000 - $180,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: