New Products Ground Systems Mechanical Design Engineer
Zipline · South San Francisco, California, USA ·
- Category
- Engineering design
- Visa sponsorship
- Yes
- Company size
- 501-1000
- Salary
- USD 120,000 – 180,000 / year
Designs and builds automated drone launch, recovery, and recharge systems, integrating robotics and precision mechanisms for global autonomous logistics operations.
About Zipline
Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products.
Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.
Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe.
We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds.
About You and The Role
The New Products team invents Zipline’s next generation of products. We are developing ground systems that enable our aircraft to safely and rapidly launch, recover, recharge, and prepare for their next mission. These systems combine robotics, mechanisms, sensing, controls, structures, and operations, and will be deployed worldwide.
You will own mechanical product development for next-generation ground systems: turning ambiguous concepts into reliable, manufacturable hardware that works around autonomous aircraft and in field operations. Your work will shape systems from architecture through validation, early production, and deployment.
What You'll Do
- Own architecture, mechanical design, build, and validation of automated ground systems from concept through testing at flight test sites, early production and deployment into the field.
- Design structures, precision mechanisms, electromechanical assemblies, and integrated hardware for aircraft launch, recovery, recharge, and mission preparation.
- Reduce technical risk through first-principles analysis, rapid prototypes, instrumented testing, and design iteration.
- Define and execute validation that demonstrates performance, reliability, safety, manufacturability, and operational usability before production release.
- Partner with electrical, software, controls, manufacturing, operations, civil engineering, and supply chain teams to deliver complete system solutions.
- Work with suppliers and manufacturing partners to translate prototypes into production-ready assemblies, resolving design-for-manufacturing and quality issues.
- Lead technical reviews and make product tradeoffs across performance, reliability, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and customer experience.
What You'll Bring
- Experience owning complex electromechanical systems or larger pieces of automated machinery from concept through production, with direct responsibility for design decisions and product outcomes.
- Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, including structural analysis, mechanism design, CAD, tolerancing, and design for manufacturing.
- Experience integrating motors, sensors, actuators, electronics, and software into reliable hardware systems.
- Practical knowledge of machining, sheet metal, welded structures, castings, molded parts, and mechanical assemblies.
- Demonstrated ability to solve ambiguous engineering problems through hands-on prototyping, experimentation, and sound technical judgment.
- Ability to design reliable machinery for operational environments where safety, human interaction, and autonomous-aircraft interfaces matter.
- Clear technical communication and the ability to lead cross-functional decisions across engineering, manufacturing, and operations.
What Else You Need To Know
The starting cash range for this role is $135,000 - $220,000. 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!
Voluntary Self-Identification
For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.
As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.