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

As a Mechanical Design Engineer on the Avionics team, you are a technical contributor designing and integrating critical electronic systems for our air vehicles, including significant ownership on a next generation vehicle that will expand Zipline’s impact from the tens of millions of people we serve today to hundreds of millions of people across the globe.

You will be responsible for the zero-to-one design of the mechanical parts on the avionics system with a focus on flex (FPC) harnessing and wire harnessing as well as retention of these harnesses. This will include design and routing, thermal control, EMI/ESD protection, and custom connectors. You’ll be expected to prototype from cardboard to CAD, test, conduct small and full scale mock assemblies, and down-select quickly so you can take your zero-to-one designs to high volume manufacturing on schedule.

Along the way, you will work closely with our electrical, mechanical and RF engineers to evaluate system-wide tradeoffs and champion a successful mechanical design. You will also work daily with other mechanical engineers across the vehicle to ensure system compatibility, and with cross-functional partners in supply chain, quality, and manufacturing as you scale the product.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience related to: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering (with accompanying mechanical skills)
• Meaningful contributions to at least one full product life cycle from concept to customer ship
• Familiarity with rigid and flexible PCB manufacturing: you may not know how to do the layout, but you know how it all mechanically comes together while maintaining electrical integrity
• Familiarity and experience in harnessing retention solutions and strategies (clips, PSA, custom clamps, etc.)
• Demonstrated CAD fluency in any software for medium complexity systems
• Elegant mechanical design at every level of detail: every choice you make has a reason, every gram is accounted for and has a purpose
• Broad understanding of manufacturing processes of plastic, metal, and composites
• Excellent communication - written, verbal, and visual. You know how to tailor to your audience with the right level of technical depth to be as effective as possible, including using basic tools in place of full CAD when it makes sense
• Willing to travel as needed to bring up suppliers
• Must be willing to relocate to the San Francisco Bay area working regularly out of Zipline HQ

Nice To Have

• Experience solving ESD/EMI integration problems
• Full life cycle ownership experience for mechanical thermal solutions
• Experience with high-volume final assembly and test (thousands to millions units per year)
• Experience designing safety-critical aerospace or automotive products
• Working knowledge of antennas from low band cellular to Wi-Fi and everything in between
• NX is your primary CAD tool

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is $130,000 - $210,000. 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!