Industrial Designer

Dolmen; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking an Industrial Designer to shape the physical user experience of Platform 2, turning complex mechanical and operational constraints into intuitive products. You will own design decisions from early concepts through prototypes to manufacturable releases, collaborating with engineering, manufacturing, operations, and product teams to deliver real-world components.

The role requires hands-on prototyping, rapid iteration, and clear communication to balance user value with feasible

Qualifications

• A portfolio demonstrating shipped or well-developed physical products and clear design reasoning.
• Strong three-dimensional design skills across form, layout, physical interfaces, and user interaction with sketching, CAD, rendering and visual communication.
• Experience designing for people with different needs, backgrounds, capabilities, and familiarity with new technology.
• Sound judgment in ambiguous situations, including the ability to ask incisive technical and non-technical questions and make decisions with incomplete information.
• A hands-on approach to building and testing prototypes, appearance models, or functional mockups, with clear written, verbal, and visual communication.

Responsibilities

• Own the physical design and user experience for Platform 2 updates or new system elements, including form and layout and influence interfaces, packaging, assembly, and mechanisms.
• Research customer and operator needs through observation, interviews, prototyping, and testing; translate findings into design decisions.
• Explore ambiguous problems, identify the largest user, technical, and deployment risks, and define practical experiments or next steps.
• Communicate concepts through sketches, physical mockups, CAD, renderings, and clear narratives that enable cross-functional decisions.
• Partner with engineering, software, manufacturing, operations, and product teams to integrate mechanical, material, assembly, and deployment constraints.
• Drive designs from early learning into validated, manufacturable platform releases; make thoughtful scope decisions that preserve user value and accelerate delivery.

Skills

Portfolio

3D design

CAD

Rendering

Human-centered design

Prototyping

Cross-functional collaboration

Mechanical systems

Visual communication

Tools

CAD software

Rendering software

Job description

The Opportunity

About You and The Role

Zipline’s New Products team creates the next generation of products across aircraft, robotics, infrastructure, operations, and customer experience.
As an Industrial Designer, you will shape the physical user experience of Platform 2, turning complex mechanical, operational, and customer constraints into products people can understand and use.

You will own design decisions from research and early concepts through prototypes and detailed, manufacturable design. Your work will help teams choose what to build, reduce the risks that matter most, and deliver Platform 2 updates or new elements for real-world deployment.

What You'll Do

Own the physical design and user experience for Platform 2 updates or new system elements, including form and layout and influence interfaces, packaging, assembly, and mechanisms.

Research customer and operator needs through observation, interviews, prototyping, and testing; translate findings into design decisions.

Explore ambiguous problems, identify the largest user, technical, and deployment risks, and define practical experiments or next steps.

Communicate concepts through sketches, physical mockups, CAD, renderings, and clear narratives that enable cross-functional decisions.

Partner with engineering, software, manufacturing, operations, and product teams to integrate mechanical, material, assembly, and deployment constraints.

Drive designs from early learning into validated, manufacturable platform releases; make thoughtful scope decisions that preserve user value and accelerate delivery.

What You'll Bring

A portfolio demonstrating shipped or well-developed physical products, clear design reasoning, and work across research, concept development, prototyping, and detailed design.

Strong three-dimensional design skills across form, layout, physical interfaces, and user interaction, with sketching, CAD, rendering and visual communication fluency.

Experience designing for people with different needs, backgrounds, capabilities, and familiarity with new technology.

Sound judgment in ambiguous situations, including the ability to ask incisive technical and non-technical questions and make decisions with incomplete information.

Comfort working with complex mechanical or electromechanical systems and incorporating manufacturing, materials, packaging, and mechanism constraints.

A hands‑on approach to building and testing prototypes, appearance models, or functional mockups, with clear written, verbal, and visual communication.