Zipline – Mechanical Design Engineer – Avionics

ZIPLINE IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF A LOGISTICS REVOLUTION: WE DESIGN, MANUFACTURE, AND OPERATE OUR OWN FLEET OF AUTONOMOUS DRONES TO DELIVER VITAL MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO PEOPLE IN NEED WITHIN MINUTES, 7 DAYS A WEEK.  TODAY WE DELIVER CRITICAL AND LIFESAVING MEDICINE TO THOUSANDS OF HOSPITALS SERVING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. JOIN ZIPLINE AND HELP US MAKE THIS A REALITY FOR BILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

ABOUT YOU

You’re comfortable owning the mechanical design of highly integrated electronics. In the past you may have worked through thermal challenges on a compute module or solved a vibration isolation issue for a key system PCB. You’re comfortable balancing and communicating the tradeoffs that come with working on a highly integrated system that is on an extremely tight timeline.You’re ready to take your experience to fully autonomous aircraft systems and you want to have a deeper impact on the world with your work. If the above sounds like you, this is an opportunity to leverage your design skills to build a brand new unmanned aerial system with a team that will challenge you like never before.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

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: PCB mounting, flex design and routing, thermal control, EMI/ESD protection, and custom connectors. You’ll be expected to prototype from cardboard to CAD, test, 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 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
• Demonstrated CAD fluency in any software for medium complexity systems
• Broad understanding of manufacturing processes of plastic, metal, and composites
• Elegant mechanical design at every level of detail: every choice you make has a reason
• 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

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!

If you’d like to learn more about Zipline and our teams, feel free to check out our Instagram, one of our Reddit AMA’s, or our website!