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Zipline

Builds and runs autonomous drone delivery

Senior / Staff Aeroelasticity Engineer

Materials & StructuresConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeSouth San Francisco, CA, USA$144k - $240k

About the Job

Requirements

  • A bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related field is required.
  • At least 7 years of industry experience in loads and aeroelasticity is required.
  • Expertise in aircraft loads analysis, flutter, and structural dynamics is required.
  • Experience with aircraft Ground Vibration Test planning and execution is required.
  • Deep knowledge of Zona, ZAERO, NASTRAN SOL144/145, or other aeroelasticity tools is required.
  • Experience with FEMAP/NASTRAN, Siemens Simcenter, or other finite element software is required.
  • Analytical or scientific programming experience using Python or MATLAB is required.
  • Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States.
  • Candidates should bring ownership, rapid decision-making, tolerance for ambiguity and shifting configurations, disciplined documentation habits, and hardware intuition.

Responsibilities

  • Own the aeroelasticity and flutter strategy for Zipline aircraft.
  • Own development of full-vehicle aerodynamic and structural load envelopes.
  • Perform loads and flutter analyses, including quasi-static and dynamic cases.
  • Define program loads, aeroelastic, and aeroservoelastic requirements that support flight performance and vehicle safety.
  • Build finite element models for integrated loads and flutter analyses.
  • Conduct aeroelastic stability assessments, including divergence and control reversal checks.
  • Collaborate across hardware, software, and vehicle operations to drive aircraft configuration and performance decisions.
  • Evaluate static strength and fatigue life of aircraft structures using classical hand calculations and finite element analysis.
  • Execute flutter, loads, and modal testing from start to finish, including pre-test analysis, instrumentation, testing, data analysis, signal processing, and model correlation, working in wind tunnels, the vibration test lab, and on the flight line.
  • Provide mentorship, guidance, and best practices, and build standardized in-house tools and processes to improve the engineering organization.

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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