Powertrain Electronics Technician — Prototyping & Soldering

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking an Electronics Engineering Technician specializing in soldering and prototype assembly to build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair electronics enabling rapid development of Powertrain systems.

The role collaborates with electrical, mechanical, test, and manufacturing engineers to assemble prototypes, perform precise soldering, and iterate hardware throughout product development lifecycles.

Qualifications

• Experience building, modifying, or repairing electronic assemblies, PCBAs, wiring harnesses, or electromechanical systems appropriate to your experience level.
• Excellent hand soldering skills for SMT and through‑hole electronics.
• Experience performing electronic rework using soldering irons, hot‑air rework stations, microscopes, and precision rework equipment.
• Experience fabricating wiring harnesses including crimping, soldering, connector assembly, shielding, and cable management.
• Ability to read electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings, and assembly documentation.
• Familiarity with test equipment and lab instrumentation (multimeters, oscilloscopes, hipot, etc.).
• IPC certifications such as IPC‑A‑610, J‑STD‑001, IPC/WHMA‑A‑620, or IPC‑7711/7721 are preferred, or willingness to obtain certification.
• Strong attention to detail with pride in producing clean, reliable, flight‑quality hardware.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair prototype PCBAs supporting Powertrain development.
• Perform precision SMT and through‑hole soldering, component replacement, engineering rework, jumper wires, trace repair, and prototype modifications.
• Fabricate custom wiring harnesses including wire preparation, crimping, solder splices, connector assembly, shielding, strain relief, heat shrinking, labeling, and cable routing.
• Assemble electromechanical prototypes including PCBAs, harnesses, batteries, motor controllers, sensors, power electronics, and other engineering hardware.
• Read and interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, assembly drawings, ECOs, and BOMs.
• Inspect solder joints, crimps, connectors, and assemblies to high‑reliability workmanship standards.
• Perform continuity testing, insulation resistance testing, hipot testing, and basic functional verification.
• Support engineers during prototype bring‑up, debugging, root cause investigations, and rapid design iterations.
• Maintain soldering stations, microscopes, crimp tooling, harness equipment, and laboratory organization.
• Develop and improve assembly documentation, work instructions, fixture concepts, and SOPs.
• Support laboratory inventory, consumables, calibration, and prototype hardware tracking.
• Promote safe handling of ESD‑sensitive electronics, lithium batteries, and high‑voltage systems.

Skills

Hand soldering

Reading schematics

Troubleshooting

Attention to detail

Collaboration

Communication

Education

IPC certifications (preferred)

Tools

Multimeters

Oscilloscopes

HIPOT testers

Soldering irons

Hot-air rework stations

Microscopes

Job description

Zipline is seeking an Electronics Engineering Technician specializing in soldering and prototype assembly to build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair electronics enabling rapid development of Powertrain systems.

The role collaborates with electrical, mechanical, test, and manufacturing engineers to assemble prototypes, perform precise soldering, and iterate hardware throughout product development lifecycles.