Lead Production Equipment Tooling Design Engineer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Lead Production Equipment & Tooling Design Engineer in South San Francisco to own the design and deployment of fixtures, workstations, tooling, and end‑of‑line test equipment for aircraft assembly and battery integration. The role is 75% individual contributor and 25% leadership, on‑site within a fast‑growing drone production environment.

You will drive uptime, FPY, and cycle‑time improvements, mentor a small engineering team, and coordinate with Design, Manufacturing,

Qualifications

• 5+ years designing production equipment and fixtures in high‑volume or fast‑ramping manufacturing environments.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• Demonstrated mastery of GD&T, tolerance analysis, mechanism design, material selection, and failure‑mode thinking for tooling.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD; Siemens NX preferred (SolidWorks/Creo acceptable with NX learning).
• Hands‑on experience commissioning equipment on the factory floor; able to spend most weeks on‑site.
• Travel up to 15% for vendor or field site visits.

Responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end delivery of production equipment and tooling projects for aircraft and electro‑mechanical subsystems: requirements, CAD, detailed drawings, vendor oversight, build, commissioning, and production release.
• Deliver measurable improvements: target >95% uptime, reduce cycle time by 20–40% per station, FPY improvement ≥10% in 6–12 months.
• Design and install alignment fixtures, press and torque tools, operator stations, poka‑yoke devices, fixtures, and automated EOL test rigs.
• Lead on‑line debugging and rapid root‑cause analysis during launches and ramp phases; occasional off‑hours commissioning.
• Mentor 1–4 tooling engineers/technicians; set priorities, approve releases, conduct design reviews.
• Coordinate cross‑functionally with Design Eng, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Test Eng, and Field Ops.
• Manage vendor relationships: write RFQs, evaluate proposals, verify QC, perform acceptance testing.

Skills

Fixture design

Manufacturing tooling

GD&T expertise

3D CAD (NX)

On-site commissioning

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Siemens NX

SolidWorks/Creo

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

Zipline’s Manufacturing Engineering team delivers the production systems that turn autonomous delivery aircraft and their subsystems into reliable, repeatable products at scale. As the Lead Production Equipment & Tooling Design Engineer based in our South San Francisco manufacturing site, you will own design and deployment of fixtures, workstations, mechanical tooling, and end‑of‑line test equipment that directly enable aircraft assembly, battery integration, dock components, and flight‑critical subsystems.

This is a hands‑on, high‑ownership role: 75% individual contributor designing, building, commissioning, and iterating equipment on the factory floor, and 25% people and program leadership coordinating priorities, standards, and cross‑functional delivery. Your work determines throughput, first‑pass yield, assembly cycle time, and maintenance uptime for production lines that supply field operations and live delivery fleets—mistakes affect fleet readiness and safety‑critical performance.

What You’ll Do

• Own end‑to‑end delivery of production equipment and tooling projects for aircraft and electro‑mechanical subsystems: requirements, CAD (Siemens NX), detailed drawings, vendor fab oversight, build, commissioning, and production release.
• Deliver measurable improvements: drive tooling availability to >95% uptime, reduce manual assembly cycle time by 20–40% per station, and improve first‑pass yield (FPY) on targeted assemblies by ≥10% within the first 6–12 months of deployment.
• Design and install alignment fixtures, press and torque tooling, ergonomic operator stations, poka‑yoke devices, handling/transport fixtures, and automated EOL test rigs tied to build and test specs for aircraft, battery packs, and docks.
• Lead on‑line debugging and rapid root‑cause analysis during launches and ramp phases; be prepared to run weekend or evening commissioning efforts during critical releases.
• Create and enforce tooling design standards, GD&T practices, tolerance stacks, and material/process selections that meet safety and maintainability requirements for autonomous hardware.
• Mentor and review work of 1–4 tooling engineers and technicians: set priorities, approve releases, run design reviews, and recruit/hire as required.
• Coordinate cross‑functionally with Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Test Engineering, and Field Operations to align tooling scope, test requirements, and production schedules.
• Manage relationships with fabricators and vendors: write technical RFQs, evaluate proposals, verify vendor QC, and perform acceptance testing at build and after installation.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years designing production equipment, fixtures, or custom automation in a high‑volume or fast‑ramping manufacturing environment; experience with aerospace, drones, medical devices, or safety‑critical electro‑mechanical products is strongly preferred.
• 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; comfortable spending most of your week on‑site.
• Practical knowledge of pneumatics, actuators, sensors, linear motion, machine guarding, and industrial electrical interfaces used in tooling and small automation.
• Track record delivering quantitative outcomes (cycle time, uptime, FPY, cost per unit) and making trade‑offs between throughput, reliability, and maintainability.
• Ability to lead vendor builds and perform acceptance testing to technical drawings and QA criteria.
• Logistics: role is site‑based at the specified South San Francisco plant; expect regular on‑site presence during standard manufacturing shifts, availability for occasional off‑hours commissioning, and up to 15% travel to vendor or field sites.
• Must‑have traits: high ownership of safety and reliability, decisive technical judgment under schedule pressure, comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration, and willingness to elevate and resolve issues that affect fleet readiness.

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.