Technical Program Manager, Deployments at Zipline – Lagos

Zipline is recruiting a Technical Program Manager, Deployments in Lagos to coordinate distribution centre launches across Nigeria and develop reliable systems for complex deployment programmes.

Deployment planning and execution

• Lead Zipline’s end-to-end deployment programme for multiple distribution centre launches across Nigeria.
• Own the integrated master schedule covering construction, procurement, shipping, hardware commissioning, regulatory approvals, software, operational readiness, recruitment, training and launch.
• Maintain a central record of programme health, site readiness, dependencies and critical-path milestones.
• Improve the deployment model for faster, more predictable, higher-quality and cost-effective launches, working towards a long-term target of opening new distribution centres in under three months.

Cross-functional coordination

• Coordinate Engineering, Supply Chain, Construction, Logistics, Regulatory, Operations, Finance and country teams to deliver launch commitments.
• Identify long-lead risks early, clarify responsibilities and escalation routes, and resolve issues affecting commissioning and launch.
• Work with Nigeria leadership to align deployment plans with customer commitments and country priorities.
• Act as the central coordination point during commissioning and launch windows.

Systems, governance and continuous improvement

• Develop reusable stage gates, integrated schedules, dashboards, playbooks, templates and site-readiness checklists that can support deployments globally.
• Measure schedule performance, readiness, execution quality and deployment costs; turn lessons from launches into improvements.
• Lead weekly reviews, executive updates, cross-functional risk meetings, launch-readiness assessments and post-launch retrospectives.
• Provide decision-focused reporting and facilitate timely decisions when priorities compete or plans change.

Requirements

• At least six years leading complex programmes in technical operations, infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, deployments or supply chains.
• Demonstrated accountability for the schedule, quality and cost of large cross-functional programmes involving long-lead dependencies.
• Experience delivering complex physical infrastructure or operational launches; experience in Nigeria or a comparable environment is preferred.
• Strong integrated planning, critical-path, risk, dependency and escalation management skills, with experience building repeatable programme operating systems.
• Practical knowledge of tools such as Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Primavera, Jira or Airtable, AI tools and KPI dashboards.
• Excellent communication and coordination across international teams without direct authority.
• Ability to work in fast-moving, ambiguous and safety- or regulation-sensitive settings, travel within Nigeria and internationally, and support critical launches across time zones and outside standard hours.
• Must have personally owned integrated schedules spanning engineering, procurement or manufacturing, shipping and logistics, and regulatory processes.
• Must demonstrate improvements in predictability, launch readiness, costs or execution quality, and a history of driving delivery rather than only planning or running status meetings.