Mechanical Design Engineer - Towers

Candidate; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 186,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to own the design of the ground systems towers and docks. You will push innovative, modular, scalable solutions using first principles to meet aggressive timelines and reliability targets.

You’ll collaborate with electrical, software, civil, NPI and supply chain teams to move designs from concept to production, including hand calcs and CAD iterations for multi-part assemblies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and eligible to work in the US.
• Proven track record owning complex subassemblies or full systems.
• Strong fundamentals in mechanics, load estimation and CAD.
• Experience with manufacturing methods and supplier collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Own design of structural components, mechanisms, and electronics integration.
• Ship and iterate on system-level designs for towers and docks.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with electrical, software, civil, NPI and supply chain teams.
• Perform hand calculations and use data from tests to guide decisions.
• Downselect designs based on analysis and prototyping results.
• Maintain BOMs, release parts, and keep timelines up-to-date.
• Communicate complex concepts clearly to varied audiences.
• Travel to visit customers and suppliers (<10%).
• Ensure designs meet high reliability targets and production readiness.
• Lead architecture decisions for next-gen ground systems.

Skills

Subassembly ownership

Mechanics fundamentals

CAD proficiency

FEA

Manufacturing methods

CM collaboration

System ownership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

NX CAD

3D CAD

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 the Team and the Role

The Ground Systems team is responsible for all of the hardware on the ground that enables our Zips to take off, fly, land and prepare for their next mission. We are developing an infrastructure solution for drone-based logistics, akin to what the solar industry has achieved with solar panels deployed worldwide. Our goal is to develop elegant integration solutions that are modular, cost effective, and adaptable to both new and existing building structures and sites worldwide for a variety of customers making drone deliveries.

Our team designs large steel towers that hold our docks. Outside of providing structural support, the towers include the mechanisms, actuators, and harnessing that support our docks’ charging infrastructure and transmit data.

What You'll Do

As a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, you will use engineering fundamentals to develop innovative products for our ground systems infrastructure. This will be centered around welded steel towers that are a few stories high. We’re looking for an engineer that does not let “how it is normally done” artificially limit the potential solution space, by leveraging experiences, knowledge, and first principles thinking towards problem solving to create an optimal product. Physical scale does not daunt you, whether the mechanism fits within your hand or is 10 meters long, you will engineer systems that will only come together days before they are needed, so we’re counting on you to make sure they work the first time. You are comfortable solving complex problems with little direction and maximum autonomy. Hand calcs guide your thinking and designs and help you quickly bound a problem.

We are looking for an experienced mechanical engineer to own the design of the entire system and subassemblies for the next generation of our towers. This will include design of structural components, mechanisms, and electronics integration. As a member of our core design team, you will make important decisions about the product architecture and create designs that will enable practical scale on a short timeline that will meet high product reliability targets. You will quickly iterate and downselect based on data from your analysis and test results from your prototypes. Collaboration cross functionally will be key with electrical, software, civil, NPI and supply chain teams to bring your designs to production and into the field.

What You'll Bring

• Proven track record owning complex subassemblies or full systems over at least 3 product programs (concept, prototype, validation, production)
• Strong fundamentals: load estimation, classic mechanics, structural hand calcs to guide part sizing, FEA and clean CAD designs.
• Excellent problem solving - you are tenacious and scientific in your approach while able to quickly explain concepts to others
• Familiarity with mechanism design and the integration of electrical components into hardware products
• Practical knowledge of manufacturing methods such as welding, sheetmetal forming, extrusion, CNC machining, etc
• Experience partnering with contract manufacturers to ramp up production of high volume lines
• Demonstrated CAD fluency for system level ownership - 3D/2D of 20-50 parts simultaneously
• Disciplined processes: Your parts are released, BOMs are maintained, SOPs created for builds, and timelines are up-to-date
• You have true expertise in one area that will level up the team
• Excellent communication - written, verbal, and visual. You know how to tailor to your audience with the right level of technical depth to be as effective as possible, including using basic tools in place of full CAD when it makes sense
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Ability to periodically (<10%) travel to visit customers and suppliers
• Must be eligible to work in the US and willing to relocate to Bay Area CA region

Nice to Have

• NX is your primary CAD tool
• Knowledge in applying appropriate FOS and margin to human safety critical application (design margin tables, structural joint calculations)
• Hands‑on welding experience for prototyping

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is $130,000 - $186,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.

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.