State + Local Government Affairs, Dallas-Fort Worth

Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. We aim 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 how 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. Using 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 to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.

Zipline is building the future and, as State & Local Government Affairs Lead, you will ensure that our amazing technology delivers incredible outcomes for people and communities. 

In this role, you will be an important public face of Zipline’s business and operations. You will own building and maintaining strong, lasting relationships with state and local government officials, administrative and regulatory agencies, and legislators and policymakers. Beginning with the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, your work will be critical to launching Zipline’s service in new communities as well as enabling the growth and scale to benefit as many members of those communities as possible.

Our ideal candidate for this role is a strategic thinker with excellent communication and advocacy skills, who thrives in a fast-paced and evolving regulatory environment. If this sounds like you, we invite you to apply and become a part of our mission to build a logistics system that serves all humans equally.

This position is based in the greater Dallas Fort Worth area and will report to the Chief Regulatory Officer. 

• Own a portfolio of policy and advocacy priorities for Zipline and seek to influence regulatory and legislative activity, with an emphasis on areas of greatest need (e.g., land use and zoning for our sites, regulated product deliveries, airport and controlled area operations, etc.)
• Drive a strategy for engagement with government stakeholders at the state and local levels to shape the regulatory framework for a new sector of the economy
• Be an expert on key state and local issues around operating an autonomous drone delivery network, including site infrastructure needed to scale, trust in our approach to safety, sound, privacy and other more common areas of public concern and the value and impact our service can have for people and communities where we operate
• Represent Zipline in conversations with elected and administrative officials and other policymakers
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners within Zipline to create state and local public policy strategies to advance our ability to operate in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex and beyond

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of experience working on regulation at the intersection of public policy and innovation and new technology (and ideally autonomy, robotics, transportation, or related fields)
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly, as needed
• Confident in presenting new and complex technology in a way that inspires your audience, shapes public perception and addresses common areas of concern
• Ability to build trust quickly because you are authentic, direct and care about the communities where you work
• Passion for new technology and the benefits it can provide to people and communities
• Excellent communication (verbal and written), advocacy and interpersonal skills
• Enjoy working in high-stakes and time-sensitive situations and love the feeling of getting business-critical regulatory approvals alongside the business
• Bonus points if you have relevant experience working on technology policy issues within the state and local government