NPI Technician Team Lead

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline, the world’s leading drone delivery company in California, seeks a Manufacturing Build Lead to own daily prototype builds and ensure safe, reliable hardware production. You will guide technicians, manage priorities, and collaborate with engineers to scale up processes.

Join a fast-growing team focused on innovation, quality, and continuous improvement, delivering critical hardware and improving production performance.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in manufacturing, production, NPI, or prototype builds.
• 2+ years leading or supervising technical personnel.
• Experience managing low‑volume, high‑variability builds with competing priorities and changing requirements.
• Strong hardware assembly, troubleshooting, and repair skills; able to use hand tools, assembly tooling, and manufacturing equipment.
• Ability to interpret mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, BOMs, work instructions, build plans, and equipment specifications.
• Experience developing processes, bringing up equipment, hiring and developing talent, and supporting products from NPI through scaled production, including engineering changes.
• Experience with production transfers, scale‑up, or reducing manufacturing costs and cycle times.
• Familiarity with ERP, MES, or PLM systems and continuous improvement methods such as 5S, Lean, or Six Sigma.
• Ability to define performance metrics and use them to improve team execution and capacity planning.
• Strong organization, reliability, attention to detail, and independent judgment, with clear communication under schedule pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead daily prototype and NPI builds, set priorities, coordinate technician capacity, equipment, materials, tooling, and workstations, and communicate progress, risks, and resource constraints.
• Maintain build readiness, configuration control, and traceability across parts, BOMs, drawings, work instructions, revisions, quantities, and production issues.
• Provide hands‑on leadership in assembly, troubleshooting, rework, and repair.Coach technicians on safety, workmanship, and documentation, and use sound judgment to resolve workflow and resource challenges.
• Develop work instructions and standard workflows; support equipment bring‑up and validate equipment and process readiness.
• Partner with Engineering on design‑for‑assembly feedback and engineering changes.
• Improve manufacturing quality, reliability, efficiency, cost, and cycle time. Support production transfers and scale‑up, including training production teams.
• Hire, onboard, and develop technicians through coaching, cross‑training, and career planning. Track performance, quality, and adherence to standard work; set KPIs and forecast staffing needs.
• Keep safety training current, document EHS incidents, address hazards, and support team‑led safety improvements.
• Build a collaborative, accountable team focused on innovation and continuous improvement.

Skills

Manufacturing leadership

NPI builds

Technical supervision

Hardware troubleshooting

Mechanical drawings interpretation

Process development

Production transfers

Lean/Six Sigma

Performance metrics

Organization & communication

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 next-generation aircraft and supporting hardware must be built, integrated, validated, recovered, and improved while products, processes, and configurations are still evolving. Your team turns engineering intent into safe, traceable hardware that enables validation, production, remanufacturing, and reliable field operations.

You will lead and work alongside Engineering Technicians on the build floor. Your role will be to own build readiness, daily execution priorities, technical blocker resolution, recovery quality, and technician capability so the team can deliver high-quality hardware consistently.

What You'll Do

• Lead daily prototype and NPI builds, set priorities, coordinate technician capacity, equipment, materials, tooling, and workstations, and communicate progress, risks, and resource constraints.
• Maintain build readiness, configuration control, and traceability across parts, BOMs, drawings, work instructions, revisions, quantities, and production issues.
• Provide hands‑on leadership in assembly, troubleshooting, rework, and repair. Coach technicians on safety, workmanship, and documentation, and use sound judgment to resolve workflow and resource challenges.
• Develop work instructions and standard workflows; support equipment bring‑up and validate equipment and process readiness.
• Partner with Engineering on design‑for‑assembly feedback and engineering changes.
• Improve manufacturing quality, reliability, efficiency, cost, and cycle time. Support production transfers and scale‑up, including training production teams.
• Hire, onboard, and develop technicians through coaching, cross‑training, and career planning. Track performance, quality, and adherence to standard work; set KPIs and forecast staffing needs.
• Keep safety training current, document EHS incidents, address hazards, and support team‑led safety improvements.
• Build a collaborative, accountable team focused on innovation and continuous improvement.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years in manufacturing, production, NPI, or prototype builds, including 2+ years leading or supervising technical personnel.
• Experience managing low‑volume, high‑variability builds with competing priorities and changing requirements.
• Strong hardware assembly, troubleshooting, and repair skills; able to use hand tools, assembly tooling, and manufacturing equipment.
• Ability to interpret mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, BOMs, work instructions, build plans, and equipment specifications.
• Experience developing processes, bringing up equipment, hiring and developing talent, and supporting products from NPI through scaled production, including engineering changes.
• Experience with production transfers, scale‑up, or reducing manufacturing costs and cycle times.
• Familiarity with ERP, MES, or PLM systems and continuous improvement methods such as 5S, Lean, or Six Sigma.
• Ability to define performance metrics and use them to improve team execution and capacity planning.
• Strong organization, reliability, attention to detail, and independent judgment, with clear communication under schedule pressure.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is$120,00 to $150,000. 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.