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 This Posting
This posting represents multiple Senior to Staff Mechanical Design Engineering opportunities across our Engineering organization. We’re hiring across several teams (Avionics, Structures & Mechanisms, Powertrain & Battery, Ground Systems, and Long Range Platform-P1) and across multiple seniority levels. Candidates who apply will be considered for all open roles that align with their background. During your first conversation, we will work with you to identify the best team and level match, based on your experience and interests.
About You and the Work
Does working on large integrated electro-mechanical systems from conception through fully scaled production and world-wide deployment excite you?
At Zipline, our work is intended for the field. Patients are counting on it today and there is no time for aiming low or coming up short. If leveraging your talent to drive creating elegantly engineered solutions excites you, read on.
We’re looking for driven, proactive Senior and Staff Mechanical Design Engineers to join various hardware teams across the organization. Mechanical Design engineers are responsible for coming up with novel designs that not only meet their intended function, but are also robust enough to handle the severe environments our aircraft are exposed to on an everyday basis. This person will be the complete owner for their hardware, hands-on in moving projects forward through each phase of the product design process (Design, Build, Test, Repeat, Scale) to produce high-impact products and manage projects on short timelines.
Additionally, design engineers are responsible for overseeing their designs into production, ensuring designs meet their design requirements, are manufacturable, inspectable, and can be built at scale. Our Mechanical Engineers know their hardware inside and out and work seamlessly with Software, Integration, Production, Suppliers, and Test to make sure their hardware is functioning effectively as a part of the whole system.
Must Have Experience / Skill Sets
• 5-15+ years of full time working experience, at a business, designing electromechanical and structural assemblies
• Proven track record of complex subassemblies or full systems over at least two product programs
• Demonstrated CAD fluency for system-level ownership (3D/2D of 20–30 parts simultaneously)
• Experience working with suppliers and seeking DFM feedback
• Experience working on structural components and mechanisms, identifying worst-case loads, creating quick test setups
• Demonstrated core competencies: GD&T, FEA (multi-body structural and thermal), design for assembly and field ops
• Prototyping experience and quick iterations on owned projects
• Ability to bound problems with hand calcs (beam, buckling, bolted joints, etc.)
• Knowledge of appropriate safety margins for human safety critical applications
• Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills
Additional Role-Specific Skills by Team
Avionics
• Experience with high-volume electromechanical assemblies, including PCBA layouts and sensor hardware including cameras, air data sensors, etc.
• First principles thermal design
Battery and Power Distribution
• Experience with high-volume electromechanical assemblies, including PCBA enclosures, batteries, and connectors
• First principles thermal design
Electric Motors and Propulsion
• Experience with rotor dynamics, vibrational loads, durability cycling
• Familiarity with electric motors, electromagnetics, and brushless DC motor control
• Bonus: carbon fiber structures in high-volume production
Structures and Mechanisms (Aircraft)
• Design of mass-efficient carbon fiber, metallic, and plastic structures
• Design and testing of reliable servo mechanisms
Towers
• Welding design (AWS 1.1), sheet metal design, electrical integration
• Structural design including hand calcs and FEA
• Bonus: large structural steel, dynamic transient FEA
Dock and Zipping Point
• Experience with design for electronics packaging/harnessing, actuators, mechanisms
• Sheet metal and plastic design
Nice to Haves
• NX as your primary CAD tool
• Aerospace or automotive-level validation experience
• Comfortable with data analysis
• Prior technical mentorship
• Testing experience (test plans, execution, analysis)
Interview Process
This posting represents multiple opportunities and levels, our process is structured to help us place you on the right team while giving you clear visibility into what to expect.
Step 1: Recruiter Call
A short call to understand your background, career goals, and technical focus areas. We’ll use this to assess overall fit for Zipline’s mechanical roles and begin role matching across our teams.
Step 2: Hiring Manager + Technical Interviews
These are two separate interviews. In the first one, you will meet a hiring manager and also complete a technical conversation focused on mechanical fundamentals, problem solving, and your past work. The second interview will be more focused on technical problems the team is engineering through.
Step 3: Onsite Panel
A full onsite interview where you meet several team members, deep dive into your design work, walk through technical challenges, and see the environment where our systems are built and tested. We have a strong preference to conduct your onsite interview in one day, but will be flexible on a case-by-case basis
What Else You Need to Know
The starting cash range for this role is $145,000 – $225,000. Please note that these are starting salary ranges that represent multiple internal levels. The final cash pay will depend on experience, qualifications, skills, location, and projected impact. Total compensation will also include equity, incentives, and benefits such as medical, dental, vision, paid time off, and more.
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 traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply.
If you’d like to learn more about Zipline and our teams, feel free to check out our Instagram, one of our Reddit AMAs, or our website.
Zipline South San Francisco, California, USA Office
South San Francisco, CA, United States
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