Head of Weather Systems
Core
Lead the Weather Intelligence team to define and enforce environmental limits for Zipline's autonomous drone delivery operations, translating meteorological uncertainty into automated go/no-go decisions.
Role type
Owner-level Head of Weather Systems (Technical & Product Owner)
Builds
Automated weather intelligence and risk system for mission decision logic
Domain
Autonomous logistics, aviation weather, meteorology, geospatial environmental science
Deliverable
production ML models | product features
Required skills
Scientific Python (Pandas, NumPy, Xarray, NetCDF), time-series/streaming systems (Kafka), Kubernetes, AWS, Rust/C++, meteorology/aviation weather expertise, quantitative metrics definition, validation experiment design, cross-functional leadership
Preferred skills
None stated
Technologies
Python, Pandas, NumPy, Xarray, NetCDF, Kafka, Kubernetes, AWS, Rust, C++
Responsibilities
Own end-to-end development and operational performance of the automated weather intelligence system; translate meteorological uncertainty into concrete operational limits; define and measure success with quantitative targets; lead validation efforts using simulation, historical log replay, and flight tests; prioritize trade-offs across safety margin and operational availability; own cross-functional execution with Flight Operations, Safety, and Engineering; drive the roadmap for sensing, data ingestion, and model tooling; hire and mentor a small technical team; operate on-call rotation for weather-system outages
Seniority
Owner-level, hands-on technical and product leadership
