About Zipline
Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are. From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments and consumers.
The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through our technology that includes robotics and autonomy, we are decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution, while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.
Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.
About You and the Role
Are you experienced with the mechanical design, bring-up and testing of novel electromechanical systems? Can you handle conflicting needs of stakeholders across teams and condense them down into a single, functional prototype? Do you pride yourself on being able to answer hard questions quickly with simple tests instead of another meeting? If so, read on!
The System Test and Integration team owns de-risking and validating aircraft hardware and software at the full-system level. When new designs or architectures are proposed, our team turns those ideas into function-specific prototypes for early-stage flight testing. As concepts mature into production builds, we support aircraft bring-up and integration. Our clean sheet design projects don’t stop at the aircraft, as we also design and build large scale, ground-based, automated testers for performance characterization and end-of-line checkouts. Each design project requires extensive collaboration across disciplines (aero, guidance navigation and control, electrical, software and more) to make sure that our designs meet stakeholder expectations and burn down risk quickly.
Upholding Zipline tradition, we get flying and learn real-life lessons as fast as possible! You should enjoy designing and prototyping next generation vehicles, including nailing down hard to define requirements and staying in the know on future architecture changes. A background in automation, robotics or powertrain design will come in handy, as these are complex, electromechanical systems. Lastly you should be stoked to rally our dedicated, cross functional project teams and maintain a vision for long-term test infrastructure.
This position is an in-person role. Candidates must be able to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area. Must be eligible to work in the US.
What You’ll Do
End-to-end ownership of critical prototypes and test systems
- Align with stakeholders on must-have design features and test scope
- Own mechanical design, fabrication, sourcing and system builds
- Collaborate cross functionally with electrical, software and operations
- Bring-up and debug the system, jumping in quickly to root cause issues
- Directly support testing until it’s running like a well oiled machine and we have high confidence in the data being collected
- Proactively document and share out learnings, procedures, and team challenges
What You’ll Bring
Minimum 5 years of experience with expert knowledge of mechanical design principles for electromechanical systems
- Strong fundamentals: load estimation, part sizing, basic FEA and clean CAD designs
- Well versed in quick-turn manufacturing: materials selection, fabrication processes, vendor negotiations
- Knowledgeable in off-the-shelf part selection: motor / drivetrain, instrumentation, DAQs, bearings, and more
- Disciplined processes: Your parts are released, BOMs are maintained, SOPs created for builds, and timelines are up-to-date
Must have project experience
- Passion for cultivating a high caliber, high initiative team and leveling up junior team members
- Foresight to mitigate risks that will affect safety, quality or efficiency of test operations
- Comprehension of cross disciplinary performance levers (e.g. advising on how mechanical configuration changes impact controls or aero)
- Mastery of creating scrappy tests to answer questions and validate designs
- A collaborative spirit and excellent team communication by nature
- The ability to lean into chaos and ruthlessly prioritize to deliver products on time
What Else You Need To Know
The starting cash range for this role is $130,000 - $165,000. 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, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies.
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!
