What are the responsibilities and job description for the Support Operations Specialist position at 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.
The Support Operations Specialist serves as the operating layer between customer/partner communications and core delivery systems. Operating in a fast-paced environment where software, hardware, and operational systems intersect, this role navigates ambiguity to isolate root causes and keep delivery operations running smoothly. The Specialist routinely uses and toggles across multi-functional systems simultaneously—including intake platforms, real-time internal comms, backend telemetry, order dashboards, and ticketing trackers—to investigate complex order, mission, site, fleet, and financial issues. They resolve work within Advocacy boundaries, coordinate technical owners, and turn recurring friction into SOPs, macros, and measurable system improvements.
What You'll Do- Customer & Partner Ownership: Provide end-to-end communication from intake through closure across internal handoffs.
- Investigation & Advocacy Resolution: Isolate break points using system evidence; resolve supported order, serviceability, and setting requests.
- Evidence-Based Escalation: Build complete evidence packages (site, order, asset, expected vs. actual behavior) for technical teams.
- Safety & Compliance: Follow approved protocols for high-stakes events, protecting human safety, dignity, and privacy.
- Partner & Finance Onboarding: Distinguish operational vs. payout readiness and clear documentation blockers.
- Process & System Improvement: Maintain SOPs, analyze contact volume signals, and optimize workflows (Automate, Document, Eliminate).
- Specialists follow an 8-step investigative methodology: Expected Outcome → Observed Outcome → Break Point → Evidence → Failure Domain → Immediate Recovery → Ownership → Prevention.
Systems and working knowledge
- Key Tools & Multi-System Navigation: Fluent in seamlessly navigating and operating across multiple complex systems simultaneously, including Intercom (Intake), Slack (Internal Comms), Jira (Trackers), internal operational dashboards, telemetry tools, CRM systems, and logs.
Measures of performance
- Responsiveness & Quality: First response time, update frequency, correct first-line actions, and minimal avoidable transfers.
- Operational Visibility & Impact: Case classification accuracy, evidence quality on escalations, and measurable reduction in repeat friction.
- Safety & Compliance: Strict adherence to safety, incident, privacy, and escalation protocols.
Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.
We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!
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As set forth in Zipline 's Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.