Senior Operations Manager, Prime Air

We are seeking a Senior Data Operations Manager to lead the Data for Autonomous Aircraft (DA2) Labeling Operations team at Prime Air. In this role, you will own the end-to-end operational strategy, delivery execution, people leadership, and vendor management of a multi-workstream data annotation operation enabling algorithm development for safe, automated drone deliveries. You will manage the labeling operation where the problem, opportunity, and strategy may not be fully defined — using your expertise and judgment to define metrics, goals, and long-term strategy. You will lead a team of managers and individual contributors, define team and cross-team goals by working backwards from customer problems, and establish the labeling operation as a center of operational excellence. You will be accountable for delivery, quality, efficiency, vendor performance, people development, and strategic planning — operating independently and influencing stakeholders across DA2 and Prime Air.

Responsibilities

• Operational Strategy & Ambiguity
• - Define metrics, goals, and long-term operational strategy for the labeling org in an ambiguous, undefined space
• - Set team and cross-team goals by working backwards from customer problems
• - Contribute to strategic planning (OP1/OP2) within the DA2 organization
• Delivery & Execution
• - Establish workflows and SLAs across all annotation/labeling workstreams (VTOL, FCW, MACA)
• - Build and scale audit mechanisms that make outcomes auditable and quality measurable against goals
• - Negotiate priorities, manage escalations, and mitigate long-term risks across teams
• - Own leadership reporting (MBR, WBR, Kingpin Reviews) and flex resources to deliver results
• Team & People Leadership
• - Provide tactical and strategic management; may manage one or two managers plus ICs across multiple locations
• - Build and adapt team structures to solve complex problems as priorities emerge
• - Set performance expectations in 1:1s, lead calibrations, and run talent reviews
• Vendor & Quality Management
• - Define and enforce quality/productivity standards for vendor partners through SLAs and accountability mechanisms
• - Own the Labeling team's Kingpin goals, driving to target via internal mechanisms and vendor enforcement
• Cross-Functional Coordination & Influence
• - Partner with stakeholders to define vision, prioritize projects, and communicate results through Amazon's writing mechanisms
• - Serve as the integrator between labeling sub-teams and DA2/Prime Air teams (Collections, DCEPS Engineering, Perception Science, SWAN)
• - Hold upstream teams accountable through documented SLAs and escalation mechanisms
• Process Improvement & Operational Excellence
• - Establish process improvement and operational excellence mechanisms, driving best practices across the team
• - Proactively simplify labeling workflows and reduce exposure to classic failure modes before failures force change

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree
• 5+ years of management, or 5+ years of senior leadership experience
• Experience in operational excellence, continuous improvement, or process improvement roles
• Experience in project and program management
• English proficiency (written and verbal communication). ### Preferred qualifications

Nice to have

• Experience as an acting operations manager, or experience managing large teams across multiple locations and languages
• Experience in written and verbal communication skills to communicate with technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership
• • Experience in data operations, annotation/labeling programs, or ML data workflows at scale
• Experience applying continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen) to operational environments