Controls Engineer, High-Volume Production Automation

Candidate; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline, based in South San Francisco, seeks a Controls Engineer, Production Equipment, to design and integrate the controls and electrical interfaces that make production fixtures, workstations, and automated equipment operate safely and repeatably.

You will translate assembly and test requirements into equipment sequencing, interlocks, sensor and actuator interfaces, and fault diagnosis for aircraft, battery packs, docks, and related subsystems.

Qualifications

• 2+ years designing production equipment, fixtures, or custom automation in a high‑volume or fast‑ramping manufacturing environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated mastery of GD&T, tolerance analysis, mechanism design, material selection, and failure‑mode thinking for assembly tooling.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD; Siemens NX preferred (SolidWorks/Creo experience acceptable with strong NX learning intent).
• Hands‑on experience commissioning equipment on the factory floor: supporting fabrication, build, debug, test, and operator training.

Responsibilities

• Develop and validate equipment sequences, interlocks, sensor and actuator interfaces, and fault‑recovery behavior against assembly requirements and safety criteria.
• Diagnose control and electrical‑interface faults during build, acceptance, and production ramps; coordinate changes with mechanical, manufacturing, and test engineers.
• Own controls and electrical‑interface delivery for production equipment from requirements through vendor build, commissioning, and production release; partner with mechanical engineers on CAD (Siemens NX), detailed drawings, and integrated equipment acceptance.
• Deliver measurable improvements: increase tooling availability above 95%, reduce manual assembly cycle time by 20–40% per station, and improve FPY by at least 10% in 6–12 months.

Job description

Zipline, based in South San Francisco, seeks a Controls Engineer, Production Equipment, to design and integrate the controls and electrical interfaces that make production fixtures, workstations, and automated equipment operate safely and repeatably.

You will translate assembly and test requirements into equipment sequencing, interlocks, sensor and actuator interfaces, and fault diagnosis for aircraft, battery packs, docks, and related subsystems.