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Zipline

Builds and runs autonomous drone delivery

Senior/Staff Electrical Engineer - Avionics

Board & Electronics DesignConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeSouth San Francisco, CA, USAIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • At least 5 years of experience designing and releasing electrical hardware for products that have shipped, flown, operated in the field, or otherwise seen real-world use is required.
  • Strong electrical engineering fundamentals across analog, digital, mixed-signal, power, sensing, and communication circuits are required.
  • Experience designing PCBAs, including schematic capture, component selection, design reviews, layout guidance, board bring-up, and design verification, is required.
  • The ability to debug complex electrical issues using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, electronic loads, protocol analyzers, and other lab equipment is required.
  • Experience writing and executing test plans for design validation, qualification, production test, or reliability investigations is required.
  • Strong root-cause analysis skills and the ability to move from ambiguous symptoms to clear technical conclusions and practical corrective actions are required.
  • Working knowledge of PCB layout tradeoffs, signal integrity, power integrity, grounding, EMI/EMC, thermal behavior, and manufacturability is required.
  • The ability to collaborate across electrical, mechanical, firmware, software, manufacturing, operations, quality, and supply-chain teams is required.
  • The ability to drive a design or issue from an unclear starting point to a released, verified solution is required.
  • Clear communication and documentation habits are required, especially when decisions affect safety, reliability, production, or fleet operations.
  • A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, is required.

Responsibilities

  • Own avionics electrical subsystems from concept through design, validation, release, production ramp, and field support.
  • Design and develop PCBAs for aircraft and ground-support hardware, including digital, analog, sensing, communications, power, and control circuits.
  • Create and review schematics, select components, define interfaces, guide PCB layout, and ensure designs meet electrical, mechanical, thermal, manufacturing, and operational requirements.
  • Bring up new boards, write and execute validation plans, analyze test data, and drive design changes based on measured performance.
  • Lead root-cause investigations for electrical issues found during bring-up, qualification, manufacturing, flight test, or field operation.
  • Own corrective-action plans for fleet or production issues, including containment, investigation, design revision, release, and verification.
  • Partner with firmware and software teams on hardware-software interfaces, sensor integration, communications, diagnostics, and test hooks.
  • Work with mechanical engineering on packaging, connectorization, cable routing, weight, thermal constraints, environmental exposure, and serviceability.
  • Collaborate with manufacturing, test, quality, and supply-chain teams to improve yield, reduce downtime, resolve production blockers, and support supplier readiness.
  • Define requirements, test procedures, design documentation, release packages, and change-control records for avionics hardware.
  • Support design reviews, failure reviews, and technical tradeoff decisions across reliability, performance, cost, weight, power, schedule, and manufacturability.
  • Mentor other engineers and help raise the quality of electrical design, validation, debugging, and release practices across the team.

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience with avionics, aerospace, drones, robotics, automotive electronics, satellites, or other high-reliability hardware is desirable.
  • Experience with Altium Designer for schematic capture, PCB layout review, or release package generation is desirable.
  • Experience designing for weight, power consumption, thermal limits, vibration, shock, EMI/EMC, environmental exposure, or high-volume manufacturing is desirable.
  • Experience with Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for test automation, data analysis, or lab-equipment control is desirable.
  • Familiarity with embedded firmware development in C or C++, especially for board bring-up, diagnostics, or hardware-software integration, is desirable.
  • Experience with CAN, UART, SPI, I2C, Ethernet, GNSS, radios, motor-control electronics, battery systems, or sensor interfaces is desirable.
  • Familiarity with aerospace or environmental test practices such as DO-160, HALT, vibration, thermal cycling, or reliability growth testing is desirable.

About the Company

Zipline

Builds and runs autonomous drone delivery

Zipline builds and operates autonomous drone delivery networks for retailers, restaurants and healthcare systems that need to move products without road traffic. Its electric aircraft carry food, prescriptions and other supplies from partner sites or distribution hubs to customers and health facilities. The company combines aircraft, charging equipment and delivery software with flight operations, so partners buy a logistics service rather than manage their own drones. Merchants use its ordering and tracking tools to reach customers, while governments and health systems contract for medical supply delivery. Zipline was founded in 2014 and has its headquarters in South San Francisco, California.

Company size
1,001-5,000
Company stage
Late Stage VC
Total funding
$3.6B
Headquarters
South San Francisco, CA
Founded
2014

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