RF Test Engineer (Senior - Staff)

Namely; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline’s Avionics team in South San Francisco seeks a seasoned RF test engineer to design validation plans, develop high-volume test systems, and drive end-to-end campaigns from development to production. You’ll work on RF communications, GNSS, and related avionics, leveraging Python and Linux to build robust, scalable test solutions in a fast-paced environment.

We value collaboration, data-driven problem solving, and hands-on experience with certification testing in high‑volume production

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering with RF focus.

Responsibilities

• Own the design validation and test planning efforts for RF products and manufacturing test.

Skills

RF engineering

manufacturing test

system performance testing

design validation

Python

Linux environments

Shell scripting

effective communication

team collaboration

US work eligibility

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering (RF)

Tools

Python

Linux

Shell scripting

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

The Avionics team is a group of hardware, software, and test experts responsible for designing robust systems that control our life‑saving drone delivery service in some of the toughest environments on Earth. Our team designs aircraft avionics that must excel in a wide range of harsh, real‑world climates and electromagnetic interference (EMI) environments. The Avionics system is a vital part of the overall zipline aircraft system architecture, where we strive to achieve high performance and reliability while minimizing mass and cost.

You and our team will be responsible for delivering high performance communication and navigation systems that are tightly integrated into the aircraft and flight computer. These radio systems are at the core of a new unmanned aerial system that will enable Zipline’s impact to expand from 100,000 deliveries/year to 100 million across the globe. Zipline’s future success depends on the development of avionics systems that are low mass, low cost, high reliability, and produced at high volumes. Rigorous design engineering and validation is required, as well as ingenuity in approaches to packaging, integration, fault tolerance, and validation. We are looking for a test engineer with a strong foundation in RF fundamentals and prior experience with manufacturing test, design validation, system performance characterization, and certification.

What You’ll Do

• Own the design validation and test planning efforts for our RF products; including both design validation and manufacturing test.
• Develop a deep understanding of components under test becoming a subject matter expert in the component’s behavior under a range of environmental, performance, and system conditions.
• Coordinate cross‑functional teams and external vendors to deploy high quality test plans and test systems in a timely manner to support production timelines
• Drive end‑to‑end test campaigns from development through design validation, certification, and production (often working all facets simultaneously).
• Triage and root‑cause field failures, using data analysis, test heritage, correlation to operating conditions, and one‑off test campaigns.
• Support the certification testing to enable our aircraft to fly in the real world.

What You’ll Bring

• 3+ years of experience in RF engineering roles, with manufacturing test, system performance testing, certification, and design validation experience
• Bachelors and/or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, with focus on RF Comms and Design
• Past test engineering experience in sensors and electronics for critical systems in fields such as automotive, aerospace, transportation, or medical devices.
• Test asset design validation for RF products in high‑volume production environments.
• Experience with one or more of Wi‑Fi, Cell, GNSS, ADS‑B, UWB, Radar, or similar consumer electronics wireless protocols.
• Experience developing test plans, test requirements, test standards, and test criteria for hardware products and RF systems.
• Strong understanding of communication system fundamentals including linear systems, signal processing, and communication theory.
• Proficient in Python, Linux environments, and scripting languages such as Bash or Shell.
• Enthusiasm for collaborating in a fast paced, cross‑functional environment.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to explain technical challenges and solutions to fellow engineers and non‑engineers alike.
• Must be eligible to work in the US.
• Must be able to work in person at Zipline’s South San Francisco office.

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. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!