Job Description

Platform 2 Site Infrastructure Design Manager - Mechanical Engineering

South San Francisco | Ground Systems | Full-Time

About Zipline

Do you want to change the world? Zipline uses drones to deliver critical and lifesaving medicine to thousands of hospitals serving millions of people in multiple countries. Our mission is to provide every human on Earth with instant access to vital medical supplies. Join Zipline and help us make this a reality for billions of people.

About You And The Role

Zipline is hiring a Mechanical Engineering Manager that is excited to support the scaling of life saving operations in the field as well as execute clean sheet innovative designs for our next generation of ground system infrastructure for our Platform 2 system. Platform 2 represents a groundbreaking innovation for Zipline as we prepare to scale the deployment and operation of our systems across urban metros to revolutionize the way life-saving products are delivered and ramp to 100s of millions of deliveries per year. 

As the lead of this team, you will be responsible for leading a multidisciplinary team of mechanical engineers with broad cross-functional engagement to develop and deliver the ground infrastructure for internal and partner site integration across healthcare, retail and restaurant applications and global metros. This effort will enable Zipline’s impact to expand from 100’s of thousand deliveries/year to 100’s of millions in a wide variety of environmental conditions around the world. This person will be responsible for the design of Platform 2 ground systems infrastructure and equipment including mounts for aircraft docking and charging stations and packaging loading integration at our partners. This will include leading the team through the launch of Platform 2 operations including operational triage, root causing and strategic mitigation. This leader will also drive the definition of, and shepherd in the next generation of site infrastructure design to unlock scaling deployments and seamless partner integration to ramp customer deliveries. They will act as a player-coach who is as comfortable providing strategic vision as they are being in the weeds of the team’s designs and technical mentorship. 

Zipline is integrated into national health care systems and we are responsible for rapid delivery of life saving products. We engineer our systems to be efficient, reliable, and easy to maintain. The ideal candidate will have an outstanding technical background, delights in driving product definition with a customer-centric attitude, and enjoys leading and growing engineers as they continue to revolutionize the supply chain and logistic industry. The success of this team will define our partner experience and is vital to the success of Zipline overall. 

What You’ll Do

• Develop large structures and mechanisms that can be built at high volume with responsibility for all load cases and safety factors/margin 
• Work with Industrial Design, Go To Market and New Deployments to deliver aesthetic, seamless integrated and easy to deploy products 
• Drive system level datuming/tolerancing strategy to achieve excellent manufacturability/serviceability
• Design customer centric products that meet reliability and lifetime requirements, demonstrated through component and system testing
• Drive architecture and tradeoffs in system design to optimize for full cost of ownership

To achieve this you will:

• Leverage your technical leadership experience in relevant fields to establish a team culture that biases towards action and tests ideas to achieve radically simple designs.
• Build strong cross functional relationships, navigate competing constraints to drive product architecture and roadmapping with customer-centric design 
• Motivate your team with a clear vision and create ambitious plans for your team’s work while holding a high bar for technical quality
• Build your team by hiring world class engineers

What You’ll Bring

• Past success leading engineering teams to rapidly develop first of its kind hardware and deploy into the field with the level of rigor that a high volume or safety critical application requires.
• Deep technical depth in structures, mechanisms or safety system design. You have made impactful and direct contributions at the architectural level in your career.
• Enthusiasm for building a team - finding and convincing top talent to join you in your work.
• Past success managing and developing an excellent team of engineers.
• Past success bringing products through the full product development life cycle using high volume manufacturing practices.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $190,000 - $225,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate’s experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; 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 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!