Operations Readiness Program Manager, Côte d'Ivoire
On-siteAbidjan, Abidjan Autonomous District, Ivory Coast
Job Summary
Own end-to-end operational readiness for 3–6 concurrent Long Range Platform site launches across Côte d'Ivoire, from planning through first flight and early stabilization. Define and enforce clear go/no-go criteria and measurable acceptance standards for safety, staffing, training, infrastructure, equipment, communications, power, and first-flight procedures. Maintain an integrated program plan with milestones, risks, and mitigation actions while reporting against launch KPIs to stop or green-light launches. Lead the cross-functional readiness cadence, driving alignment between Recruiting, Academy, Engineering, Construction, Supply Chain, Safety/Regulatory, Partnerships, and Country Leadership to resolve conflicts and escalate issues with clear decision requests. Validate readiness through field verification, including on-site checkouts, acceptance tests, and flight-readiness demonstrations to identify and close launch-critical gaps before first flight. Own staffing and competency readiness, confirming role fills, onboarding, and on-site proficiency to ensure site teams can operate independently and safely. Coordinate regulatory and community-readiness actions required for launch, ensuring permit/approval evidence and safety artifacts meet acceptance standards. Lead post-launch reviews and root-cause analysis, measuring performance against launch targets and converting findings into updated standards, playbooks, and training requirements.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years program management, field operations, or deployment experience in technical, regulated, or aviation-adjacent environments
- direct site launch or activation experience
- Proven track record managing multi-stakeholder launches or rollouts across field sites with measurable outcomes
- Demonstrated ability to define go/no-go criteria, write acceptance tests, and enforce KPIs under schedule pressure
- Clear escalation judgment and stakeholder management
- Willingness and ability to travel throughout Côte d'Ivoire ~20–30% typically, with higher intensity during launch windows
- Bilingual fluency in French and English
- authorization to work in Côte d'Ivoire
Desired Qualifications
- direct site launch or activation experience required/preferred as documented in prior roles
- Proven track record managing multi-stakeholder launches or rollouts across field sites with measurable outcomes (examples: number of sites launched, % time-to-launch reduction, reduced safety incident rate)
- Hands-on experience coordinating engineering, construction, supply chain, and training to achieve first operational use at field sites
- experience validating power, communications, charging systems, aircraft, and ground equipment
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