Director of Airspace Policy and Regulatory Affairs

The role

The Director of Airspace Policy and Regulatory Affairs will define and lead Zipline's airspace integration policy strategy. This person will manage engagement with regulators, industry standards, and stakeholders to ensure safe drone operations alongside crewed aircraft.

What you will do

• Develop and implement Zipline's airspace integration strategy.
• Lead policy strategy for RF deconfliction and spectrum coexistence.
• Lead policy engagement on electronic conspicuity, ADS-B, and Remote Identification.
• Turn aviation and spectrum regulatory requirements into compliance and deployment roadmaps.
• Represent Zipline in industry forums including FAA working groups, ASTM F38, RTCA, JARUS, and GUTMA.
• Lead engagement with the FAA on Part 108, Part 146, and Section 2209.
• Lead response to government consultations and notices of proposed rulemakings.
• Convert operational experience and safety evidence into contributions to standards and policy.
• Advise leadership on emerging regulatory requirements and policy decisions.

Required qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in air traffic management, aviation systems, UAS operations, aviation regulation, UTM, spectrum policy, standards development, or a related field.
• Track record of designing, deploying, operating, regulating, or materially shaping complex airspace-integration systems for UAS or AAM.
• Experience with advanced aviation or eVTOL airspace integration, AAM operating concepts, or NextGen air traffic-management programs.
• Experience with FCC and aviation spectrum issues affecting UAS.
• Demonstrated leadership or substantive technical participation in international aviation standards and policy forums.
• Trusted relationships with civil aviation authorities, air navigation service providers, standards organizations, UAS operators, and UTM service providers.
• Experience working in both government and industry.
• Technical fluency in RF and spectrum issues, interoperability, electronic conspicuity, ADS-B, UTM, and safety cases.
• Ability to influence across organizational boundaries and convert complex issues into recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in aerospace engineering, systems engineering, computer science, aviation, air traffic management, public policy, or a related field.

Nice to have

• Experience with production UAS operations, autonomous systems, BVLOS approvals, Part 135 operations, or large-scale logistics and mobility networks.
• Experience developing safety cases, assurance frameworks, operational concepts, or certification evidence for high-reliability systems.

About the company

Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. They operate an autonomous logistics system to deliver food, medicine, and essential goods globally.