Senior Director of Global Operations

About the company

The company offers drone delivery as a safe, fast, and sustainable solution for last mile logistics. Consumer appetites for on-demand services are increasing, but current delivery methods are inefficient, costly, and contribute to road accidents and air pollution. The company’s fleet of highly automated delivery drones can transport small packages directly from businesses to homes on-demand, in minutes. We design, build, and operate our aircraft, and offer drone delivery services on two continents. Our technology is designed to be easy to integrate into existing delivery and logistics networks, offering a scalable drone delivery solution for a broad range of businesses. The company is a part of Google's parent company, Alphabet, and our mission is to create the preferred means of delivery for the planet. If you're ready to do the greatest work of your life, come join us.

About the Role

The company is building the future of on-demand delivery and we are looking for a Senior Director of Global Operations to lead and build the operational engine that powers it at scale. The company has recently announced plans to expand into eleven new major US metro areas: Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Tampa and Salt Lake City. This growth is in addition to our existing drone delivery markets: Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte and Orlando. Based in Palo Alto, CA or Remote (US) , this operations executive will own the strategy and execution of our drone delivery service as we plan to serve nearly 20 US metros, putting our technology within reach of roughly 40 million people.

In this role, you will architect, build, and optimize a highly scalable physical operational delivery model. This role requires a transformation and execution-obsessed leader who excels at managing distributed multi-site operations, scaling a hybrid workforce of full-time employees and third-party contractor/vendor networks, and embedding cutting-edge technology—including AI workflows—into daily ground execution with our commercial partners. Accelerated expansion of autonomous drone delivery requires a deep focus on the intersection of autonomous technology and the physical world - ensuring our best in class technology meets elegant and scalable ground operations workflows with our commercial partners across retail, QSRs and food delivery companies.

What You’ll Do

• Develop the team that is the launch engine for the company - launching new markets across the US and globe and ensuring existing markets are hitting operational & strategic OKRs and adhere to aviation protocols.

• Collaborate with Partnerships, Commercial Real Estate, BizOps, and Regulatory teams to execute rapid deployment, permitting, setup, and operationalization of drone delivery operating sites and co-located retail sites.

• Rigorously monitor site-level unit economics as the company scales (cost-per-delivery, labor efficiency, fleet availability, etc) and bring best in class operational practices to optimize those levers.

• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Partnerships teams to operationalize new aircraft hardware, software features, and merchant partner integrations.

• Build, lead and scale  a high-performing operations workforce using a mix of labor types (FTEs, large-scale third-party contractors and vendors) while instilling a data-driven culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.

• Champion the adoption of AI-driven tools and automated workforce scheduling to optimize site-level labor allocation, forecast drone fleet maintenance needs, and streamline ground diagnostics.

• Maintain compliance with regional aviation regulations (e.g., FAA Part 135/107, CASA), Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) policies, and local site safety protocols across all field locations.

What You’ll Need

• 20+ years of progressive operational leadership experience managing hyper-growth physical operations, complex multi-site networks, and last-mile logistics networks.

• Strong commercial orientation with deep understanding of operational P&L management, unit economics, labor scheduling optimization, and cost-per-delivery levers.

• Proven track record scaling a distributed field operation that is a mix of  contractor, vendor, 3PL workforces and  FTE teams.

• Demonstrated experience integrating advanced technology, AI tools, or algorithmic automation into daily operational workflows to boost labor efficiency and operational uptime.

• High-level problem-solving and critical thinking skills with experience balancing rigorous safety/compliance frameworks with aggressive growth timelines.

• Proven capability to partner across tech, product engineering, regulatory affairs, and enterprise partnerships teams.

• Bachelor’s degree in Operations, Engineering, Business, Logistics, or equivalent practical experience.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and it is the company's policy to comply with all applicable national, state and local laws pertaining to nondiscrimination and equal opportunity. Employment at the company is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. The company does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), or any other basis protected by law.

If you have a need that requires accommodation during the interview process due to a disability or special need, please let us know by completing our  Candidate Accommodations Request Form .