Lead Mechanical Engineer - Long-Range Drone Platform

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 145,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline, based in South San Francisco, CA, is hiring a Mechanical Engineer for the Long Range Platform to design, validate, and deliver critical airframe and electromechanical hardware for long-distance autonomous delivery aircraft. You will own subsystems from concept through production, reducing weight and improving reliability in harsh field conditions.

You will collaborate daily with Electrical, Software, Integration/Test, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Operations to resolve

Qualifications

• 4+ years industry experience designing electromechanical and structural assemblies.
• Deep CAD fluency (20–30 part subassemblies) and top-level integration.
• Proven ability to apply FEA, hand calculations, tolerance analysis, and test correlation.
• Hands-on prototyping and test experience to close design loops.
• Direct supplier engagement: negotiating DFM changes and resolving quality issues.
• Experience with structural components, mechanisms, fastener systems, airframe-scale assemblies.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
• End-to-end ownership: stay with issues until production-ready.

Responsibilities

• Own Long Range mechanical subsystems from concept to sustained production.
• Translate fleet requirements into quantitative mechanical targets and designs.
• Produce CAD models, GD&T, and manufacturing drawings for volume production.
• Run first-principles analysis and validation with bench tests and flight-representative rigs.
• Prototype rapidly and lead build-test-iterate campaigns with go/no-go metrics.
• Define verification matrices and root-cause investigations with clear timelines.
• Collaborate with Electrical, Software, Integration/Test, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Operations.
• Support field deployments and production startups with handoff documentation and spares strategies.

Skills

CAD fluency

GD&T

FEA

Prototyping

Supplier engagement

Field travel

Tools

NX

Job description

Zipline, based in South San Francisco, CA, is hiring a Mechanical Engineer for the Long Range Platform to design, validate, and deliver critical airframe and electromechanical hardware for long-distance autonomous delivery aircraft. You will own subsystems from concept through production, reducing weight and improving reliability in harsh field conditions.

You will collaborate daily with Electrical, Software, Integration/Test, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Operations to resolve