Top Tech Jobs & Startup Jobs in San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Develop real-time motion planning and decision-making software for autonomous delivery drones. Responsibilities include trajectory generation, optimization across safety and mission goals, planning under uncertainty, safety-critical obstacle avoidance, autonomy interfaces, large-scale simulation, SIL/HIL testing, log replay, fault injection, and fleet-data analysis to improve reliability across aircraft and payloads.

Own mechanical subsystems for autonomous delivery aircraft from concept through production and field sustainment. Responsibilities include CAD modeling, GD&T, FEA, tolerance analysis, prototyping, testing, supplier integration, verification planning, root-cause investigations, and production support. The role partners cross-functionally to improve structural reliability, aircraft availability, maintainability, safety margins, and manufacturing scalability, with periodic travel to suppliers, production sites, and field depots.

Own launch readiness and lifecycle execution for new aircraft and major hardware changes. Create integrated launch plans, set release-readiness gates, track schedule/cost/quality/risk, manage supplier and retrofit planning, resolve build and field issues, and make go/no-go decisions to ensure safe, maintainable, and scalable fleet deployments.

Design and implement motor-control estimators, controllers, peripheral drivers, and firmware for bare-metal ARM microcontrollers. Validate firmware through bench, flight, hardware-in-the-loop, and software-in-the-loop testing. Develop Rust vehicle simulations, control analyses, Monte Carlo simulations, fault-management strategies, inverter bring-up, and fleet-monitoring systems. Collaborate with electrical, systems, structures, flight-software, and operations teams in a safety-critical autonomous vehicle environment.

Design and maintain safety-critical C++ firmware for autonomous aircraft microcontrollers. Develop communication interfaces, reusable platform components, real-time performance, fault handling, diagnostics, monitoring, and troubleshooting tools. Build Rust-based tooling and software-in-the-loop simulations to validate firmware. Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, embedded Linux, and systems engineers to support reliable aircraft deployment at global scale.

Own C++ firmware and supporting tools for safety-critical aircraft systems. Design distributed microcontroller firmware, communication interfaces, reusable platform components, real-time performance, fault handling, monitoring, and troubleshooting capabilities. Develop Rust-based tools and software-in-the-loop simulations to validate firmware. Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, embedded Linux, and systems engineers to support reliable aircraft deployment at scale.

Own cross-functional commercial implementation programs from planning through launch, stabilization, and continuous improvement. Build scalable implementation models, partner communications, performance-review rhythms, playbooks, and tools. Investigate operational issues using dashboards, order-level data, field input, and partner feedback; drive root-cause resolution and measurable improvements. Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Analytics, Field Operations, Support, Partnerships, and Commercial teams to translate requirements into repeatable partner operating models.

Own the architecture, implementation, validation, and lifecycle of embedded Linux middleware for autonomous aircraft. Develop Rust and C++ platform services for IPC, communications, OTA updates, logging, observability, and service lifecycle management. Lead cross-service architecture, diagnose failures across software, operating system, network, and hardware boundaries, and establish engineering standards that improve reliability, deployment safety, and integration for flight-software teams.

Own supplier quality performance for assigned suppliers and components in a complex hardware manufacturing environment. Lead defect containment, root-cause investigations, corrective actions, supplier audits, qualification activities, process-control reviews, incoming-quality improvements, and production launches. Partner with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and reliability teams to reduce defects and improve supplier capability. The role is fully onsite in South San Francisco and includes approximately 10% travel.

Own and maintain technical manuals, maintenance procedures, troubleshooting guides, and service documentation for Zipline’s aircraft and equipment. Research engineering materials, interview subject matter experts, observe maintenance work, validate technical accuracy, coordinate reviews, and manage publication. Improve content structure, metadata, templates, and workflows while migrating documentation from MadCap Flare to Markdown and MDX in GitHub. Collaborate with engineering, maintenance, operations, software, systems, and illustration teams.