Service Engineer I
kigali, rwanda
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
Zipline operates autonomous logistics systems that move essential goods reliably. When an aircraft, droid, dock, or related system is grounded, clear first-level triage and disciplined handoffs help restore safe operations and protect customer deliveries.
As a Service Engineer I, you will own first-level troubleshooting from intake through documented resolution or escalation. You will work across Service Engineering, Engineering, Maintenance, Technical Writing, and Support Operations to return assets to service safely and make recovery workflows more repeatable.
What You'll Do
- Triage tickets, alerts, logs, and operational reports; prioritize work by safety, customer impact, and operational need.
- Execute approved diagnostic guides, checklists, and workflows for grounded aircraft, droids, docks, and related systems.
- Document actions, outcomes, symptoms, and required handoff context to maintain traceability across shifts and support regulatory requirements.
- Escalate unresolved or complex issues to Service Engineer II, Engineering, Maintenance, or Support Operations with completed steps, relevant logs, and recommended next actions.
- Create work orders and coordinate handoffs for physical inspection, repair, replacement, or maintenance activity.
- Identify recurring issues, unclear procedures, and tooling friction; provide actionable feedback to improve first-level recovery workflows.
What You'll Bring
- 2+ years of related experience in technical support, service operations, maintenance coordination, aviation, robotics, hardware, fleet, manufacturing, field, or customer operations.
- Ability to follow technical documentation, standard operating procedures, maintenance instructions, or troubleshooting guides with consistent attention to safety and quality.
- Experience investigating issues using logs, telemetry, dashboards, ticketing systems, incident-management tools, ERP systems, or diagnostic tools.
- Clear written and verbal communication to explain observed symptoms, completed work, changes, and escalation needs across technical and operational teams.
- Calm, disciplined judgment in ambiguous or high-pressure situations: follow available process, ask precise questions, and escalate at the right point.
- Availability for 24/7 shift operations, including nights, weekends, holidays, on-call rotations, and rapid response for critical grounded assets; occasional travel of approximately 10% for training, certification, or site support.
- A bachelor’s degree and exposure to aircraft, drones, robotics, electromechanical systems, logistics systems, or complex operational environments are preferred.
What Else You Need to Know
This role may require sitting or standing for extended periods while reviewing tickets, monitoring dashboards, conducting troubleshooting, documenting activity, and coordinating with cross-functional teams.
You must be eligible to work in Rwanda.