Concept and Architecture Engineering Contractor

Namely; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 554,000 - 1,107,000; Part time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a very small group of exceptional external engineers, designers, builders, and creative problem-solvers to join Zipline’s New Products team for a clean-sheet development effort in Half Moon Bay, California. The intensive sprint runs Sept 28–Oct 2, 2026, with no more than two external participants per day, for roughly one to two days each.

Participants will explore unconventional approaches, gain direct exposure to Zipline’s hardware and operations, and contribute to shaping

Qualifications

• Demonstrated history of building difficult things and solving problems that initially appeared intractable.
• Technical creativity, strong engineering intuition, hands-on ability, and the capacity to operate in unfamiliar problem spaces.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with members of the New Products team on ambiguous, open-ended technical problems.
• Generate and evaluate concepts from first principles rather than iterating on existing solutions.
• Bring lessons and intuition from difficult problems solved in other products and industries.
• Rapidly sketch, prototype, analyze, or communicate potential solutions.
• Challenge assumptions and identify portions of the design space that may be overlooked.
• Use direct exposure to Zipline's systems to develop a grounded understanding of the problem.
• Operate effectively with very little structure and incomplete information.
• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding the project and information shared.

Job description

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

We are kicking off a new, highly confidential product development effort on Zipline’s New Products team. This team includes individuals who architected and developed Zipline’s current systems from their earliest stages, taking ambitious ideas through the process of becoming real, operational products.

We are now embarking on another clean-sheet development effort that we believe has the potential to have a similar level of impact on the future success of the business.

At this earliest stage of the project, we want to bring in a very small number of exceptional external engineers, designers, builders, and creative problem-solvers to work directly alongside the core New Products team. The objective is to inject diverse technical perspectives into the clean-sheet design process, rapidly explore the solution space, challenge our assumptions, and identify unconventional approaches to unusually difficult problems.

This will take the form of an intensive, highly collaborative design sprint running September 28– October 2, 2026 at Zipline’s flight test facility in Half Moon Bay, California. We intend to host no more than two external participants per day, with each participant joining for approximately one to two days.

Holding the sessions at our flight test facility will give participants firsthand exposure to the systems, hardware, and operating environment that provide context for the problems we’re solving. Rather than working from a presentation or abstract problem statement, participants will be able to see how our systems work in practice, ask questions of the people who build and operate them, and use that context to inform their ideas.

What You'll Do

• Work directly with members of the New Products team on ambiguous, open-ended technical problems.
• Generate and evaluate concepts from first principles rather than simply iterating on existing solutions.
• Bring lessons, approaches, and intuition from difficult problems solved in other products and industries.
• Rapidly sketch, prototype, analyze, or otherwise communicate potential solutions.
• Challenge our assumptions and help identify portions of the design space we may have overlooked.
• Use direct exposure to Zipline's systems and operations to develop a grounded understanding of the problem.
• Operate effectively with very little structure and incomplete information.
• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding the project and information shared during the engagement.

What You'll Bring

• We are specifically looking for people with a demonstrated history of building difficult things and solving problems that initially appeared intractable.
• Specific industry experience is less important than technical creativity, strong engineering intuition, hands‑on ability, intellectual range, and a track record of turning unconventional ideas into working hardware or systems. We're particularly interested in people who are comfortable entering an unfamiliar problem space, getting up to speed quickly, and approaching a problem without being constrained by how it has traditionally been solved.

What Else You Need To Know

This is a short-term, paid independent contractor engagement running September 28–October 2, 2026, with each contractor participating onsite for approximately one to two days from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at Zipline’s flight test facility in Half Moon Bay, California. Compensation is $3,000–$6,000 per day, depending on scope and relevant experience. Travel and lodging are not covered; meals will be provided during onsite engagement days. Contractors are not eligible for Zipline employee benefits and must provide any required invoices and tax documentation. Because this engagement involves confidential product development, selected contractors must sign Zipline’s approved contractor and confidentiality agreements before receiving nonpublic project information or accessing restricted facilities, and must comply with applicable intellectual‑property, information‑security, facility‑access, and health‑and‑safety requirements.

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.

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.