Material Planner - Platform

About Zipline

Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing, and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are. From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments, and consumers.

The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through our technology—including robotics and autonomy—we are decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution, while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.

Join Zipline and help us deliver on our promise to build a more equitable and resilient global supply chain.

Platform 1—Zipline’s first-generation long-range autonomous drone system—is already delivering millions of medical products across Africa. The strength and agility of our supply chain is at the heart of our ability to scale this impact. We are seeking a Material Planner to design and optimize Zipline Africa’s material planning and supply chain strategy, ensuring readiness across all sites. This role will focus on long‑term planning, inventory optimization, MRP implementation, and enabling efficient site expansions across the continent.

You will sit at the intersection of Operations, Logistics, and Global Supply Management, building frameworks and systems that empower our Tactical teams to execute effectively and consistently. This is a high‑impact, cross‑functional role for someone who thrives in complexity, builds from first principles, and is motivated by the opportunity to strengthen a supply chain that directly improves millions of lives.

• Support the design and implementation of central warehouse models in each country, ensuring efficient consolidation and material flow between Zipline distribution centers (Nests) and central facilities.
• Set minimum and maximum inventory levels for central warehouses and individual Nests, monitoring and adjusting annually.
• Establish and enforce robust cycle count and audit processes to ensure accuracy, data transparency, and strong operational reporting.

• Collaborate with US logistics, purchasing, and planning teams to schedule and execute container shipments for site launches and ongoing operations.
• Develop long‑term strategies for shipment optimization, container utilization, and inventory positioning.
• Partner with regional logistics teams to support trade compliance efforts, optimize freight decisions, reduce logistics costs, and navigate customs and tariff implications.
• Coordinate with logistics and sourcing teams to ensure materials flow efficiently across 3PL storage, suppliers, regional warehouses and Nests.

• Plan material readiness for new site launches, ensuring timelines and risk mitigation strategies are followed to support first‑flight launch requirements.
• Coordinate with field teams to onboard new Nests, ensuring availability of equipment, spares, and operational materials.

• Drive material readiness for new product ramps by partnering with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Global Supply Management teams.
• Identify supply risks early in development and guide mitigation plans to protect ramp timelines.
• Support engineering release cycles, risk buys, and last‑time‑buy decisions during supplier transitions to ensure continuity of supply.

• Lead development, implementation and continuous improvement of MRP systems connecting BOM, forecasts, and consumption data to generate purchase and production plans.
• Build scalable processes, tools, and governance mechanisms that…