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July 21, 2026
Head of Dropbox
Senior • On-site
South San Francisco, CA
About Zipline
Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to ensure access to food, medicine, and essential goods anytime, anywhere. Zipline designs, builds, and operates a global autonomous logistics system delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably across four continents.
Dropbox is Zipline's ground-side hardware system for autonomous package loading, storage, transfer, and pickup. It combines mechatronics, electrical systems, sensing, test infrastructure, field reliability, manufacturability, and deployment constraints into one customer-facing product.
This role reports to the Chief Hardware Officer and leads the mechanical, electrical, test, and technician teams responsible for taking the product from architecture through design, validation, launch, and scalable deployment.
What You'll Do
- Own Dropbox hardware execution across mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, testing, technician work, integration, validation, and release readiness.
- Lead system-level architecture tradeoffs across throughput, reliability, safety, installability, manufacturability, serviceability, regulatory impact, and deployment cost.
- Drive hardware development from prototype through production-intent design, including mechanisms, enclosures, sensing, harnessing, power systems, electronics, and test coverage.
- Build the hardware team's operational processes including priorities, staffing, technical reviews, issue triage, design gates, DVP&R, build planning, and escalation paths.
- Manage technical risk across moving mechanisms, dynamic harnesses, motor and sensor architecture, package handoff, public-facing safety, environmental exposure, and field service.
- Partner with firmware, autonomy, RF, cloud, operations, manufacturing, supply chain, regulatory, and customer-facing teams to deploy Dropbox at partner sites.
- Create validation evidence for mechanical safety, electrical safety, environmental robustness, package quality, site compatibility, and operational reliability.
- Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for design, test, production, and field issues.
- Hire, coach, and manage multidisciplinary teams of engineers and technicians.
- Make decisions balancing speed, robustness, complexity, cost, and future extensibility.
What You'll Bring
- Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary hardware teams through fast product development cycles.
- Strong mechanical and electrical systems judgment with the ability to challenge architecture, test plans, and failure-mode assumptions.
- Experience with electromechanical products involving motion, sensing, harnessing, safety interlocks, environmental exposure, and production validation.
- Ability to manage hardware development from architecture through builds, testing, supplier engagement, manufacturing handoff, and field support.
- Strong product judgment around user experience, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and cost.
- Ability to build team structure, clarify ownership, and turn ambiguous technical work into executable plans.
- Comfort working across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, operations, regulatory, and leadership stakeholders.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills around technical risk, trade studies, decision logs, and launch readiness.
- Data-driven mindset focused on testing, prototyping, design reviews, failure analysis, and acceptance criteria.
Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity and inclusion in hiring.
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With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe. We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people's lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds. About You and The Role You will lead the systems engineering team responsible for defining the product capabilities roadmap, decomposing those capabilities into concrete architectures engineering teams can deliver on, and system validation & verification of new capabilities across our current platforms as well as new and novel autonomous aircraft concepts. In 2026, we will scale Platform 2 deliveries per day by 10x while we ramp range by 5x - so, we'll fly 50x further every day than we do today. We'll do that while ramping into significantly more complex airspaces and environmental conditions across 5 metros in the US. Then, in 2027 we'll make a similar 10x+ jump while expanding across the globe. This is a key leadership position to find the right path for enabling safe scaling into complex environments, defining architectures to achieve safety and cost goals over hardware and software revisions, and balancing competing objectives such as range, acoustics, delivery throughput, and cost. What You'll Do Scope: Product level requirements, architecture and decomposition, verification plans, operational performance monitoring of key product attributes and functions including: - Network Optimization & Capacity - Aircraft Autonomy - Flight Performance - Operational Design Domain / Operating Envelope - Flight Reliability and Fault Management Responsibilities: - Serve as a trusted technical expert of high-reliability, safety-critical autonomous systems owning system level architecture, requirements, metrics, and test coverage to ensure product capabilities are delivered safely - Define interfaces and drive cross-disciplinary discussions to align on architectures - Develop frameworks and facilitate trade studies to optimize performance, safety, and cost - Create and maintain systems models and diagrams - Set standards for hardware and software releases and test requirements - Partner with safety engineering and regulatory teams to prove flight worthiness Leadership: - Grow and mentor a world-class Systems Engineering team and adjacent teams - Drive multi-year technical roadmap across the product What You'll Bring - Demonstrated leadership delivering complex technical solutions amid ambiguity and competing priorities - Track record of shipping high-reliability, safety-critical autonomous systems into real-world operation - Deep systems engineering experience with product requirements, architecture, interface definition, system decomposition, verification planning, and validation - Technical judgment in safety-critical autonomy including fail-safe, fault-tolerant, and fail-operative approaches - Experience making tradeoffs among safety, performance, cost, and operational constraints using models, metrics, and test evidence - Ability to develop technical leaders and communicate system decisions across engineering, safety, regulatory, and operational teams What Else You Need To Know Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. We value diversity and welcome applications from those traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply.
Technology

Zipline
Senior Motion Planning Software Engineer
Senior
On-site
South San Francisco, CA
🏢 Summary: Senior Software Engineer role focused on autonomy motion planning for large-scale drone delivery systems, developing real-time trajectory generation, decision-making, and safety-critical software for autonomous flight. The position involves optimization, simulation, and validation of autonomous systems operating in complex real-world environments. 🗂️ Requirements: Master's degree in Computer Science or related field, 3+ years building software for safety-critical systems, Experience with autonomous systems in aerospace, AV, or robotics, Strong proficiency in Rust, Strong proficiency in C++, Strong proficiency in C, Experience with real-time fault-tolerant embedded/Linux development, Expertise in planning and search algorithms, Experience with trajectory optimization and MPC, Hands-on experience with SIL/HIL simulation and log replay, Experience shipping production-grade autonomy systems, Ability to collaborate with perception, controls, and flight operations teams 📃 Skills: Rust, C++, C, Linux, MPC, A*, RRT*, SIL, HIL, Robotics, Autonomy, Simulation, Optimization, Embedded 🏢 Description: About Zipline Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world's largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. Our customers include the world's largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we've built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations. Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe. We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people's lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds. About You and The Role Zipline operates the world's largest autonomous logistics system (ground or air) — and in the coming year, we will be hyper-scaling from thousands to tens of thousands of carefully coordinated drone deliveries in several dense, dynamic U.S. metros. Our Autonomy Motion Planning team is looking for a Senior Software Engineer who is passionate about developing autonomous systems for the real world. This role will explore cutting-edge approaches to decision making and trajectory planning that will enable more accurate and timely deliveries, putting you in the position to make critical product decisions that will shape our future architectures. What You'll Do - Build real-time trajectory generation and decision-making for autonomous flight (search-based, sampling, MPC, convex/non-convex optimization). - Tackle joint optimization across safety, energy, time, and reliability—balancing mission goals with vehicle constraints. - Plan in uncertain environments with complex dynamics: robustness to wind/turbulence, degraded sensors, and partial observability. - Design safety-critical software for avoiding obstacles and interfacing with humans while delivering and picking up packages. - Extend the autonomy stack for new aircraft and payloads; define clean interfaces with perception and controls. - Prove it before flight: large-scale sim, SIL/HIL, log replay, and fault-injection. - Mine real fleet data to validate safety metrics, improve models, and burn down long-tail failure modes. What You'll Bring - Master's degree in Computer Science or related field and 3+ years of experience building software for safety-critical systems (aerospace/AV/robotics). - Strong in Rust/C++/C for real-time, fault-tolerant code on embedded/Linux. - Depth in planning & search (e.g. A*/ anytime / RRT*/sampling), trajectory optimization/MPC—shipped on real robots/vehicles. - Hands-on with simulation at scale, SIL/HIL, log replay, and metrics-driven validation. - Evidence of shipping production-grade autonomy through ambiguous, noisy conditions—owning the last mile to reliability. - Systems thinker who collaborates tightly with perception, controls, and flight ops; crisp docs and design reviews. What Else You Need To Know Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!
Technology

Zipline
Global Supply Manager
Senior
On-site
South San Francisco, CA
🏢 Summary: Global Supply Manager role focused on end-to-end commodity strategy, supplier performance, and sourcing for mission-critical hardware supporting autonomous aircraft and logistics operations. The position involves supplier negotiations, qualification, manufacturing ramp execution, and cross-functional collaboration with engineering and operations teams. This is an onsite role in South San Francisco with regular supplier engagement and international travel. 🗂️ Requirements: 5+ years in sourcing, commodity management, or supplier leadership for high-reliability hardware production, Experience negotiating and managing multi-million-dollar supplier contracts, Technical expertise in electronics, motors, batteries, composites, or precision machining, Experience with supplier qualification and industrialization into volume production, Strong analytical skills in should-cost modeling and supplier risk analysis, Familiarity with AS9100/ISO9001 quality systems and traceability requirements, Ability to work onsite in South San Francisco, Willingness to travel 20–30% internationally and domestically 📃 Skills: Sourcing, Procurement, Negotiation, AS9100, ISO9001, PPAP, FAI, Analytics, Manufacturing, Industrialization, Composites, Electronics, Batteries, Machining, Avionics, SupplyChain, RiskManagement 🏢 Description: About Zipline Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world's largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. Our customers include the world's largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we've built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations. Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe. We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people's lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds. About You and The Role We're hiring a Global Supply Manager to own end-to-end commodity strategy and supplier performance for mission-critical hardware that enables Zipline's autonomous aircraft and global delivery operations. You will operate at the intersection of manufacturing ramp execution, product engineering, and global sourcing—delivering reliable, scalable supply for systems where component failure or late deliveries directly impact flight operations and customer outcomes. This is an in-person role based at our HQ in South San Francisco with regular on-site supplier engagements and 20–30% travel to supplier sites across North America, Asia, and Europe. What You'll Do - Own one or more critical commodity/category portfolios end-to-end: sourcing strategy, supplier selection, contract terms, qualification, ramp to volume, and long-term supplier development. - Set and deliver measurable targets within your portfolio, including cost reduction, supplier on-time delivery improvements, quality reduction targets, qualification cycle-time, and ramp throughput milestones. - Lead competitive source selection and negotiations for multi-year, multi-million-dollar supply agreements. - Manage supplier qualification and performance through PPAP plans, scorecards, QBRs, corrective action plans, and on-site audits. - Integrate with Engineering, Supplier Industrialization, Manufacturing Operations, Materials Planning, and Program Management teams. - Architect and execute risk mitigation strategies and manage supply disruption responses. - Drive supplier cost-down and value-engineering initiatives. - Own supplier disputes, claims, and contractual compliance. What You'll Bring - 5+ years of hands-on sourcing, commodity management, or supplier leadership experience supporting high-reliability hardware production. - Proven track record negotiating and managing multi-million-dollar supplier contracts and delivering measurable outcomes. - Deep technical familiarity with at least one critical commodity area including electronics assemblies, motors, batteries, composites, or precision machining. - Experience driving supplier qualification and industrialization into volume production under aggressive schedules. - Strong analytical skills including should-cost modeling, total-cost-of-ownership analysis, spend segmentation, and supplier risk scoring. - Familiarity with supplier quality systems and regulatory/traceability requirements including AS9100/ISO9001 and FAI. - Must be based in or willing to work full-time onsite in South San Francisco. - Ability to travel 20–30% for supplier and site visits, including international travel. Major bonuses (not required) - Advanced degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, or Business. - Prior experience supporting flight-critical systems or battery supply chains. - Experience managing localization or vertical integration programs and global supplier portfolios. What Else You Need To Know Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in the workplace.
Technology

Zipline
Senior/Staff Electrical Engineer, Dropbox
Senior
On-site
South San Francisco, CA
🏢 Summary: Senior or Staff Electrical Engineer role focused on designing and owning autonomous delivery system electrical architectures for Zipline’s Dropbox product, from requirements and PCB design through validation, production ramp, and field deployment. The position involves hands-on work with power distribution, sensors, actuators, embedded systems, diagnostics, and reliability in demanding outdoor environments. Candidates will collaborate cross-functionally to improve safety, manufacturability, and long-term fleet performance. 🗂️ Requirements: Experience owning complex electrical or electromechanical products through production and deployment, Strong knowledge of analog, digital, power, sensor, motor interface, embedded system, and communication design, Experience designing electronics with motors, actuators, sensors, PCBAs, harnesses, connectors, and embedded controls, Experience with schematic capture, PCB reviews, component selection, tolerance analysis, and worst-case analysis, Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers, power analyzers, and data-acquisition equipment, Experience debugging power, signal integrity, connector, sensor, communication, or firmware interaction issues, Knowledge of ESD, EMI/EMC, thermal derating, vibration, ingress, corrosion, and connector reliability, Experience defining verification plans, fault-injection testing, and production acceptance criteria, Experience working with PCB, harness, component, and manufacturing suppliers, Experience implementing DFM, DFT, end-of-line testing, calibration, and manufacturing controls, Ability to analyze telemetry or test data using Python, SQL, MATLAB, or equivalent, Strong technical documentation and communication skills, Ability to work onsite in South San Francisco and travel as needed 📃 Skills: PCB, PCBAs, Analog, Digital, Embedded, Sensors, Actuators, Motors, Communications, Diagnostics, Python, SQL, MATLAB, C, C++, DFM, DFT, EMI, EMC, ESD, Telemetry, Firmware, Oscilloscopes, Multimeters, LogicAnalyzers, PowerAnalyzers, Electronics, Interconnects, Harnesses, Connectors 🏢 Description: About Zipline Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. The company designs, builds, and operates autonomous logistics systems that deliver food, medicine, medical supplies, and retail products globally. Operations span four continents with millions of completed deliveries and more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles flown. About You and The Role Zipline builds and operates autonomous delivery systems that move critical goods reliably and safely. Dropbox is a customer-facing package-loading product that integrates mechatronics, sensors, electronics, access control, user interaction, firmware, and environmental protection so untrained users can hand off packages to autonomous delivery systems. As a Senior or Staff Electrical Engineer on Dropbox, you will own critical electrical systems from architecture and component selection through detailed design, validation, production ramp, and fleet operation. Responsibilities include power distribution, motor and actuator interfaces, sensing, PCBAs, wiring harnesses, connectors, grounding, protection, communications, and system diagnostics. Dropbox operates unattended in demanding field environments and around untrained users. Its electrical systems must tolerate weather, installation variation, power disturbances, mechanical motion, contamination, service activity, and repeated daily operation while remaining safe and easy to diagnose. You will work closely with Mechanical Engineering, Firmware, Systems, Safety, Test, Reliability, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Deployment, and Operations. This is a hands-on individual-contributor role with responsibility for both detailed electrical design and system-level product outcomes. At the Staff level, responsibilities additionally include setting electrical architecture and technical direction across Dropbox generations, establishing reusable design standards, and leading resolution of complex cross-functional problems. What You'll Do - Own critical Dropbox electrical systems from requirements and architecture through production release and field deployment - Develop electrical architecture for power distribution, control electronics, sensors, actuators, user interfaces, communications, and service diagnostics - Translate product behavior, safety analyses, environmental conditions, mechanical interfaces, and field workflows into electrical requirements - Define electrical success metrics including power consumption, sensing coverage, fault-detection performance, environmental margin, production yield, and field reliability - Select and integrate sensors, motors, actuators, motor drivers, power supplies, converters, protection devices, connectors, harnesses, and communications interfaces - Design or guide development of PCBAs, schematics, layouts, cables, wiring harnesses, interconnects, and electrical assembly documentation - Own grounding and shielding strategy, connector architecture, thermal derating, and protection coordination - Design for electrical faults including overcurrent, short circuit, reverse polarity, overvoltage, undervoltage, brownouts, electrostatic discharge, and communication loss - Partner with Safety and Systems engineers to ensure hazards are controlled through architecture, protection, sensing, and fault response - Work closely with Mechanical Engineering on electronics packaging, cable routing, environmental sealing, thermal management, strain relief, and serviceability - Partner with Firmware engineers to define sensor behavior, actuator interfaces, motor control, telemetry, and recovery - Perform circuit analysis, power analysis, signal-integrity assessment, tolerance analysis, derating, and worst-case analysis - Build prototypes, perform bench testing, and use data to reduce technical risk - Develop validation plans covering electrical safety, environmental exposure, thermal cycling, vibration, ESD, EMI/EMC, and fault injection - Lead design reviews, DFMEAs, hazard reviews, and readiness reviews - Produce schematics, drawings, specifications, interface-control documents, BOMs, test requirements, and release documentation - Work directly with suppliers to qualify components, PCBAs, harnesses, connectors, power systems, and manufacturing processes - Support prototype builds, validation phases, production validation, and manufacturing ramp - Investigate test, production, and field failures using telemetry, logs, electrical measurements, and root-cause methods - Mentor engineers and establish electrical design and release best practices What You'll Bring - Proven ownership of complex electrical or electromechanical products through architecture, validation, production ramp, and deployment - Strong electrical engineering fundamentals across analog, digital, power, sensors, motor interfaces, embedded systems, and communications - Experience designing electronics for systems containing motors, actuators, sensors, PCBAs, harnesses, connectors, and embedded controls - Experience with power-distribution, grounding, shielding, protection, and interconnect architectures - Experience with schematic capture, PCB design reviews, component selection, tolerance analysis, and worst-case circuit analysis - Hands-on proficiency with oscilloscopes, multimeters, power analyzers, electronic loads, logic analyzers, current probes, and data-acquisition equipment - Experience debugging issues involving power, signal integrity, connectors, sensors, communications, or firmware interaction - Experience designing for outdoor, industrial, automotive, aerospace, robotics, appliance, or similarly demanding environments - Knowledge of environmental protection, thermal derating, ESD, EMI/EMC, ingress, corrosion, vibration, and connector reliability - Experience defining verification plans, fault-injection tests, and production acceptance criteria - Experience working directly with PCB, harness, component, and contract-manufacturing suppliers - Experience implementing DFM, DFT, end-of-line testing, calibration, and manufacturing controls - Ability to analyze telemetry or test data using Python, SQL, MATLAB, or equivalent tools - Strong systems judgment and ability to identify cross-domain root causes - Clear written, verbal, and visual communication skills - Role is onsite in South San Francisco with some travel required - Periodic off-hours support may be required during critical production and deployment activities Nice to Have - Experience with motor-control electronics, position sensing, safety interlocks, or automated mechanisms - Experience with batteries, solar power, or distributed low-voltage systems - Experience with functional safety principles or electronics operating around untrained users - Experience developing remote diagnostics, fleet-health monitoring, or automated failure-detection tools - Firmware experience in C/C++ or debugging embedded systems - Experience with high-volume electromechanical products What Success Looks Like - Electrical systems meet safety, reliability, environmental, and production requirements - Electrical releases achieve strong production yield without recurring integration issues - Sensors, actuators, interlocks, and fault responses operate predictably across configurations - Field electrical failures are detected quickly and permanently corrected - Manufacturing and deployment teams can build, install, and service systems efficiently - Electrical architecture supports future product capabilities without unnecessary redesign
Technology

Zipline
Autonomy Droid Perception SWE - Offboard Systems
Senior
On-site
South San Francisco, CA
135,000 - 159,996 USD
🏢 Summary: Senior and Staff Perception Engineer roles focused on building and deploying production-grade computer vision and deep learning systems for autonomous drone delivery. The position involves developing cloud and onboard perception models, large-scale semantic and 3D mapping systems, and validation infrastructure for safety-critical logistics operations. Engineers will work on real-world autonomy challenges using aerial survey data, distributed training systems, and modern ML architectures. 🗂️ Requirements: 5+ years experience for Senior or 8+ years for Staff in deep learning-based perception systems, Experience with 3D geometry, semantic understanding, or remote sensing mapping, Strong knowledge of classical computer vision, Experience with CNN, transformer, and foundation model architectures, Experience building and deploying production ML systems, Experience with training, annotation, and evaluation pipelines, Ability to work with distributed training and data infrastructure, Experience in robotics or autonomy applications required for Staff, Roadmapping and technical leadership experience for Staff 📃 Skills: Python, ComputerVision, DeepLearning, CNN, Transformers, Segmentation, Geometry, Mapping, Calibration, Epipolar, StructureFromMotion, GaussianSplats, Robotics, Autonomy, GPU, Cloud, DistributedTraining, ML, Perception 🏢 Description: About Zipline Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world's largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. Our customers include the world's largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we've built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations. Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe. We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people's lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds. About You and The Role Zipline is operating the world's largest autonomous logistics network—delivering critical medical and commercial goods globally with high reliability, precision, and scale. As we expand into increasingly complex, safety-critical environments, the systems behind our autonomy stack must be robust, adaptable, and deeply integrated—especially at the intersection of perception and deployment. Our operational scale makes this a Physical AI opportunity like no other. We're hiring senior and staff perception engineers to join our Droid team, the group responsible for the autonomy that powers Zipline's backyard delivery experience. This team owns the full stack of onboard, offboard and cloud-side perception systems that inform, validate, and augment our onboard autonomy. From generating rich 3D and semantic priors from aerial survey data to learning customer preferences and terrain features at scale, your work will define how we enable Zipline aircraft to scale mission-critical deliveries across complex, real-world environments. This is not a purely research role—you'll be expected to move fast, ship production-grade systems, and find clever ways to apply state-of-the-art techniques to tangible, high-impact problems. What You'll Do - Own the design and implementation of computer vision ML models that run in the cloud or on an on-prem GPU cluster, helping support and scale on-device perception models. - Train and deploy large-scale models for semantic segmentation, feedforward 4D geometry, and learned preference modeling using aerial survey images, production deliveries and synthetic generated data. - Design and ship tools that predict deliverability, generate high-fidelity priors, and reduce operational friction of onboarding new customers in new environments. - Design evaluation and validation infrastructure to ensure models behave reliably in the field. - Ship new production features or models approximately every 6 weeks. - Senior engineers will lead architectural decisions, drive experimentation, and scale production-grade perception systems. - Staff engineers will roadmap the future of offboard models and lead challenging ML initiatives. What You'll Bring - At least 5+ years of experience (Senior) or 8+ years of experience (Staff) building and deploying deep learning-based perception systems. - Strong understanding of classical computer vision including camera calibration, epipolar geometry, and structure-from-motion. - Experience combining classical vision methods with modern ML approaches such as multi-view models and gaussian splats. - Hands-on experience training, fine-tuning, iterating on, and optimizing CNN, transformer, and foundation-style model architectures in production. - Engineering mindset focused on shipping scalable solutions. - Familiarity with training, data annotation, and evaluation pipelines. - Ability to work across data pipelines, training infrastructure, and distributed training systems. - Experience deploying models in robotics or autonomy applications is strongly preferred for Senior and required for Staff. - Staff candidates should demonstrate roadmap ownership and experience launching new ML initiatives. What Else You Need To Know Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!
Technology

Zipline
Test Equipment Design Engineer
Mid
On-site
South San Francisco, CA
🏢 Summary: Engineering role focused on designing and developing electromechanical test equipment for validating battery and power electronics systems used in autonomous delivery aircraft. The position involves building custom mechanical test systems, integrating automation and instrumentation, and supporting crash, structural, and environmental validation programs. Responsibilities scale with experience, from subsystem ownership to leading validation infrastructure strategy across aircraft programs. 🗂️ Requirements: Experience designing mechanical systems or engineering test equipment, Strong mechanical design skills, Proficiency with CAD software, Knowledge of machine design and structural analysis, Experience with GD&T and tolerance analysis, Experience performing FEA and hand calculations, Familiarity with hydraulic or pneumatic actuation systems, Experience designing welded and machined assemblies, Hands-on experience assembling and troubleshooting mechanical equipment, Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams 📃 Skills: NX, SolidWorks, CAD, FEA, GD&T, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Servo-electric, Automation, Instrumentation, Structural, Manufacturing 🏢 Description: About Zipline Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world's largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. Our customers include the world's largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we've built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations. Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe. We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people's lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds. About You and The Role Zipline builds autonomous delivery aircraft and ground systems that operate daily in varied field conditions. Reliable products begin with reliable validation. As an Electromechanical Test Equipment Design Engineer, you will own the design and development of the test systems that enable engineers to characterize, validate, qualify, and manufacture battery and power electronics hardware with confidence. The Battery & Power Electronics team is responsible for delivering power throughout the aircraft—including batteries, power distribution systems, busbars, and power connectors. You will develop custom test equipment integrating mechanical design, electrical hardware, instrumentation, controls, automation, and software to create robust, scalable systems that accelerate product development and generate accurate, repeatable engineering data. This role is open to engineers at all levels. Responsibilities and scope will scale with experience—from owning individual fixtures and subsystems to leading the architecture and strategy for complex validation infrastructure spanning multiple aircraft programs. What You'll Do • Own end-to-end development of crash safety equipment from requirements through concept, design, fabrication, commissioning, validation, and continuous improvement. • Design and develop custom mechanical test equipment supporting impact, crush, penetration, drop, abuse, fire, vibration, and structural testing of batteries and aircraft hardware. • Design structural frames, fixtures, reaction structures, containment systems, mounting interfaces, and mechanisms capable of safely supporting high-energy testing. • Develop systems utilizing hydraulic, pneumatic, servo-electric, and mechanical actuation to apply controlled static and dynamic loading. • Perform engineering analyses including hand calculations, tolerance stacks, bolted joint design, load path analysis, FEA, fatigue assessments, and failure mode evaluations to ensure equipment performance and operator safety. • Produce CAD assemblies, detailed drawings, GD&T, bills of materials, and manufacturing documentation for fabricated and machined assemblies. • Design equipment with operator safety as a primary requirement, incorporating guarding, interlocks, energy isolation, debris containment, fire mitigation, and ergonomic considerations. • Partner with electrical, controls, and software engineers to integrate instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition, and automation into mechanical test systems. • Build, commission, troubleshoot, validate, and continuously improve laboratory equipment to maximize safety, repeatability, throughput, and maintainability. • Support crash safety, abuse, and structural validation campaigns by rapidly developing new test capability and modifying existing equipment. • Work closely with Mechanical Design, Reliability, Systems Engineering, Manufacturing, Integration & Test, and Safety teams to translate validation requirements into practical engineering solutions. • Lead supplier engagement for fabricated equipment, machined components, welded structures, hydraulic systems, and custom mechanical assemblies. What You'll Bring • Experience designing mechanical systems, structural equipment, automated machinery, manufacturing equipment, or engineering test equipment appropriate to your career level. • Strong mechanical design skills using NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent CAD software. • Strong engineering fundamentals including machine design, structural analysis, GD&T, tolerance analysis, hand calculations, bolted joints, fatigue, material selection, and design for manufacturing. • Experience performing structural analysis using hand calculations and FEA. • Familiarity with hydraulic, pneumatic, servo-electric, or other high-force actuation systems. • Experience designing welded structures, machined assemblies, and fabricated equipment. • Hands-on experience assembling, commissioning, troubleshooting, and improving mechanical equipment. • Experience supporting crash, impact, abuse, structural, environmental, or durability testing is preferred. • Demonstrated ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams and communicate technical tradeoffs effectively. What Else You Need To Know Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!