Role Purpose Manna operates a drone delivery network in the United States. Every site we build needs municipal approval first, and the pace we can grow at is set by how well that is run.
This role owns permitting and entitlements across all of our US markets. It is a national role covering Tulsa, Dallas Fort Worth and the markets we enter after them.
What You'll Be Responsible For - Entitlements and approvals. Zoning clearance, use determinations, variances, special and conditional use approvals, through to decision. Pre-application meetings, technical negotiation with planning staff, and presenting Manna's case at planning commission and hearings alongside corporate affairs where the engagement is political.
- Working relationships with planning departments. Building and holding the relationships that get sites approved, across the jurisdictions we operate in and those we are assessing.
- Permitting assessment of new markets. Reviewing prospective cities and regions: how the jurisdiction works, its zoning and land use position, the approval route, realistic timelines and any constraints that would affect us. Your assessment feeds the decision on where we operate next.
- Design alignment with local requirements. Working with our architects and engineers so submissions are shaped around each jurisdiction's requirements from the outset, and feeding those constraints back into our standard site design.
- Consultant selection and management. Choosing and directing zoning consultants, entitlement specialists and planning advisors in each market, and holding them to a consistent standard
- Permitting intelligence in our tools. Owning the permitting and zoning criteria that sites are rated against in our site
Who you would work with - Operations, who identify and evaluate sites and run them once live.
- Commercial, who negotiate and close the leases. You confirm viability before signature.
- Corporate affairs,who lead engagement with councils, elected members and local stakeholders as we enter new cities. You support them with the planning and permitting substance, and they lead where the conversation is political.
- Site Delivery,who take the approved site and build it. You hand over a site with its approvals in place.
Requirements- Substantial experience securing land use, ordinance-based and construction approvals across multiple jurisdictions, with a track record of scaling a permitting programme rather than running individual applications.
- Credible with planning staff and technical reviewers. You understand how planning processes work, who decides, and how to build a case that gets approved. Experience as a city planner or in an entitlements consultancy is directly relevant.
- The ability to read site plans and construction drawings and to work substantively with architects and engineers.
- Experience managing a large pipeline of concurrent approvals through structured project systems.
- US-based, Central or Mountain time essential
- Travel up to 75% during active market entry.
Why this roleDrone-delivery infrastructure is new to most US jurisdictions, creating a genuine opportunity to shape how it is understood and approved. As approvals determine the pace of Manna's US growth, this role will own and drive that process.
