NPI & Production Mechanical Engineer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a mechanical engineer to own end-to-end NPI for droid subsystems, driving from design through full-rate production. You will lead test campaigns, stand up production lines at contract manufacturers, and coordinate with design, TPM, and supply chain to ensure scalable, producible solutions.

You will travel internationally to suppliers and manufacturing partners, apply GD&T and CAD skills to push for robust, high-volume parts, and advocate for design-for-manufacturing throughout

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field with 5+ years of hands-on experience delivering physical products from design through production.
• Track record of taking mechanical designs through the full NPI cycle—DVT, PVT, tooling release, first article, and ramp—on a product program.
• Direct experience running or contributing to test campaigns for mechanical or electromechanical hardware.
• CAD fluency to make drawing-ready changes (Siemens NX); Creo, CATIA, or SolidWorks experience is valuable.
• Comfortable with GD&T, tolerance analysis, and reading/marking production drawings.
• Experience with manufacturing methods: injection molding, thermoplastics/thermosets, EPP foam molding, stamping, CNC machining, and ramping parts to rate.
• Strong supplier engagement skills and ability to run a clean FAI and establish CM relationships.

Responsibilities

• Take droid subsystems from the design phase through DVT, PVT, tooling release, first article, and full-rate production.
• Own test campaigns for the subsystems you drive: write test plans, coordinate fixtures, run campaigns, and drive root-cause when issues arise.
• Stand up NPI and production lines at contract manufacturers: process definition, work instructions, operator training, line balancing, yield ramp, and initial ramp.
• Be the point person for supplier communication, ECOs, deviation management, and Jira/issue-tracking hygiene.
• Modify and improve existing designs with testing/DFM feedback; draw-ready CAD changes and push through revision control.
• Collaborate with design engineers, test engineers, TPM, and cross-functional partners in supply chain, quality, and manufacturing engineering.
• Drive first-article builds and pilot runs, on the line, closing the loop with the design team.
• Travel to suppliers and manufacturing partners internationally.
• Bring high-volume production perspective into design reviews early—advocate for scalable, producible choices.

Skills

NPI experience

CAD fluency (Siemens NX)

GD&T

Supplier engagement

Full product lifecycle

Line bring-up

Travel willingness

Education

BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering or Mechatronics

Tools

Siemens NX

Creo

CATIA

SolidWorks

Job description

Zipline is seeking a mechanical engineer to own end-to-end NPI for droid subsystems, driving from design through full-rate production. You will lead test campaigns, stand up production lines at contract manufacturers, and coordinate with design, TPM, and supply chain to ensure scalable, producible solutions.

You will travel internationally to suppliers and manufacturing partners, apply GD&T and CAD skills to push for robust, high-volume parts, and advocate for design-for-manufacturing throughout