Prototype Technician - New Products

Namely; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Prototype Technician to turn new ideas into real hardware for aircraft and electromechanical systems. You will build rough mockups and flight-quality prototypes, selecting tools and processes to learn quickly and iterate safely.

You will translate sketches and CAD into functional hardware, fabricate parts, troubleshoot, test, and document changes to improve designs in a fast-paced aerospace/ robotics environment in South San Francisco.

Qualifications

• Experience across fabrication disciplines including machining, welding, composites, and sheet metal.
• Ability to troubleshoot unfamiliar electromechanical hardware when failures occur.
• Work from incomplete drawings or early concepts to build and test hardware.
• Experience building prototype electrical systems and sensors.
• Balance craftsmanship with learning speed; know when rough prototypes suffice.
• Clear communication and disciplined documentation of changes and failures.
• Strong safety awareness around high-energy systems; aerospace/ robotics exposure is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build first-of-their-kind prototypes for aircraft, mechanisms, and experimental hardware.
• Translate sketches and CAD into functional hardware using appropriate materials.
• Create mockups and flight-quality assemblies with suitable fidelity.
• Fabricate parts using machining, welding, sheet metal, and additive manufacturing.
• Assemble, troubleshoot, modify, and repair complex electromechanical systems.
• Instrument prototypes with sensors and DAQ systems; support testing and improvements.
• Document builds, configurations, failures, and lessons learned; feedback on manufacturability.

Skills

Fabrication experience

Mechanical intuition

Prototype electrical systems

Documentation and communication

Safety awareness

Tools

CAD software

3D printing

Machining

Welding

Sheet metal fabrication

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 New Products team invents our next generation of systems. We’re looking for exceptional prototypers and makers who can help turn new ideas into real hardware and enable entirely new aircraft capabilities. We work across aircraft, mechanisms, electrical systems, ground equipment, and experimental test hardware.

Your role is to create hardware that has never existed before. You are equally comfortable building a rough mockup from cardboard and 3D prints, fabricating a flight-quality prototype, debugging a mechanism, repairing a composite structure, or troubleshooting a wire harness. Designs evolve quickly, and the fastest path to learning is often to build something, test it, understand what failed, and build the next version.

As a Prototype Technician, you will work closely with engineers and designers to translate concepts into physical prototypes. You will have significant autonomy in deciding how to build things, what tools and processes to use, and how to improve designs as you uncover problems.

What You'll Do

• Build first-of-their-kind prototypes for aircraft, mechanisms, electrical systems, ground equipment, and experimental hardware.
• Translate sketches, CAD, and early engineering concepts into functional hardware using appropriate materials and processes.
• Create mockups and flight-quality assemblies, selecting the level of fidelity needed to answer each design question.
• Fabricate mechanical parts and composite structures using machining, welding, sheet metal, hand tools, additive manufacturing, and prototype tooling.
• Assemble, troubleshoot, modify, and repair complex electromechanical systems, including harnesses, sensors, actuators, motors, and connectors.
• Instrument prototypes with sensors, wiring, DAQ systems, and measurement equipment; support testing, diagnose failures, and implement improvements in subsequent builds.
• Document builds, configurations, repairs, failures, and lessons learned; provide feedback on manufacturability, assembly, serviceability, reliability, and design simplicity.

What You'll Bring

• Broad hands-on fabrication experience across several disciplines, such as machining, welding, composites, electrical harnessing, soldering, additive manufacturing, or sheet-metal fabrication.
• Strong mechanical intuition and the ability to troubleshoot unfamiliar electromechanical hardware when failure modes are unclear.
• Ability to work from incomplete drawings or early concepts and independently determine the practical details needed to build and test hardware.
• Experience building and troubleshooting prototype electrical systems, including sensors, wiring, actuators, motors, connectors, or measurement equipment.
• Judgment to balance craftsmanship with learning speed, knowing when a rough prototype is sufficient and when a careful assembly is required.
• Clear communication and disciplined documentation of important changes, discoveries, and failures.
• Strong safety awareness around experimental aircraft, batteries, motors, machinery, and other high-energy systems; experience in aerospace, automotive, robotics, motorsports, or industrial equipment is a plus.

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.

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.