Senior Avionics Hardware Engineer – Drone Flight Systems

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Senior Avionics Electrical Engineer in South San Francisco to own aircraft hardware from architecture through bring-up, validation, release and fleet support. You will collaborate with firmware, software, mechanical, manufacturing, test, quality and supply-chain teams to build safe, robust hardware.

You will design PCBAs, write tests, perform root-cause analysis, and mentor peers to raise design quality and release discipline across the avionics stack.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years designing and releasing electrical hardware with real-world use.
• Strong fundamentals in analog, digital, mixed-signal, power and sensing circuits.
• Experience designing PCBA end-to-end: schematic, components, reviews, layout, bring-up and verification.
• Ability to debug complex electrical issues using lab equipment.
• Experience writing and executing tests for validation, production, or reliability.
• Strong root-cause analysis to derive practical fixes.
• Knowledge of PCB layout tradeoffs, signal/power integrity, grounding and EMI/EMC.
• Collaborates across electrical, mechanical, firmware, software, manufacturing, quality, and supply-chain.
• Ownership to drive designs/issues from start to release.
• Clear written and verbal documentation for safety, reliability, and fleet impact.
• Bachelor's degree in EE or related field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Own avionics electrical subsystems from concept to release and field support.
• Design PCBAs for aircraft and ground hardware, including digital, analog and power circuits.
• Create schematics, select components, define interfaces, and guide layout and verification.
• Bring up boards, run validation plans, and drive design changes from data.
• Lead root-cause investigations for electrical issues across bring-up, flight tests, and production.
• Develop corrective-action plans with containment, investigation and verification.
• Collaborate with firmware/software on hardware interfaces and diagnostics.
• Coordinate with mechanical for packaging, routing, weight and thermal constraints.
• Work with manufacturing and supply-chain to improve yield and resolve blockers.
• Define requirements, test procedures, and release documentation for avionics hardware.
• Support design reviews and trade-off decisions on reliability, cost and manufacturability.
• Mentor engineers to raise electrical design and release quality.

Skills

Analog & digital circuits

PCB design & layout

Debugging electrical issues

Design validation & test plans

Root cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Documentation & communication

Power integrity / EMI basics

Board bring-up & release

Sensor/interfaces knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

Altium Designer

Job description

Zipline is seeking a Senior Avionics Electrical Engineer in South San Francisco to own aircraft hardware from architecture through bring-up, validation, release and fleet support. You will collaborate with firmware, software, mechanical, manufacturing, test, quality and supply-chain teams to build safe, robust hardware.

You will design PCBAs, write tests, perform root-cause analysis, and mentor peers to raise design quality and release discipline across the avionics stack.