Aircraft Maintenance Lead

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description

The Aircraft Maintenance Lead plays a key role in ensuring the safe, compliant, and reliable operation of our corporate aviation fleet. This position supports the planning and execution of aircraft maintenance programs and major maintenance events, partnering with flight operations, maintenance providers, and other stakeholders to keep aircraft airworthy and mission-ready.

The role combines technical expertise with project leadership, overseeing maintenance planning, vendor coordination, regulatory compliance, documentation integrity, and operational decision-making that directly impacts aircraft availability, safety, and reliability.

This position is based in Santa Clara, California, and requires onsite work.

As an Aircraft Maintenance Lead you will...

Key Responsibilities:

• Plan, coordinate, and oversee scheduled and unscheduled maintenance activities across Gilead’s aircraft fleet.
• Implement and maintain internal maintenance procedures in accordance with FAA, manufacturer, approved maintenance program, and company requirements.
• Establish schedules for periodic inspections, overhauls, repairs, modifications, and other maintenance events.
• Track inspections, service schedules, life-limited components, Airworthiness Directives, service bulletins, and other compliance requirements.
• Maintain complete, accurate, and audit-ready aircraft maintenance records and supporting documentation.
• Support the hiring and training of maintenance personnel in collaboration with the Director of Maintenance.
• Develop maintenance project plans that define scope, milestones, resource requirements, dependencies, acceptance criteria, aircraft availability, and return-to-service objectives.
• Coordinate aircraft availability with the Director of Maintenance, Flight Operations, and other stakeholders to minimize operational disruption.
• Track project status, risks, open items, schedule changes, and decisions through aircraft redelivery and project closeout.
• Lead post-event reviews and document lessons learned to improve future maintenance projects.
• Coordinate with original equipment manufacturers, maintenance, repair and overhaul providers, repair stations, parts suppliers, engineering resources, and other external vendors.
• Prepare specifications and bid requests for external repairs, inspections, maintenance, and modifications.
• Manage customer-supplied parts, vendor deliverables, change requests, discrepancies, and maintenance-event scope changes.
• Oversee external maintenance activities to verify progress, quality, documentation, cost, and regulatory compliance.
• Evaluate vendor performance with the Director of Maintenance and support the continued use of qualified maintenance providers.
• Monitor compliance with applicable FAA regulations, Airworthiness Directives, mandatory service information, manufacturer service programs, and company requirements.
• Verify that maintenance records, logbook entries, return-to-service documentation, and project closeout packages are complete and accurate.
• Monitor regulatory and manufacturer changes affecting assigned aircraft and initiate required actions.
• Participate in the Safety Management System and apply risk-management principles to maintenance decisions and project execution.
• Support annual aircraft maintenance budgeting, project forecasting, invoice review, warranty recovery, and cost monitoring.
• Monitor aircraft reliability, recurring discrepancies, downtime, maintenance performance, and dispatch availability.
• Identify technical and process trends and implement corrective, preventive, and continuous-improvement actions.
• Assess maintenance risks and make timely decisions regarding work prioritization, vendor support, scheduling, and aircraft availability within delegated authority.

…