Senior Electrical Engineer, Ground Systems

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a senior-level electrical engineer to lead the design and development of high-reliability embedded systems that power our drone charging and docking infrastructure. The Ground Systems team handles ground infrastructure for autonomous delivery drones, including docking, battery charging, thermal management, and high-speed networking.

You will contribute deep power-electronics expertise to scale Zipline’s global infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing and testing embedded electronics hardware (microcontrollers, sensors, communication networks).
• Design experience with mixed-signal PCB, high-speed digital PCB, microprocessor, ethernet, power electronics, and motor drive.

Responsibilities

• Own the electrical design of Zipline’s dock sensing and control architecture for volume production through a full design cycle.
• Shape the architecture of Zipline’s next generation product, enabling high independence in design decisions.
• Lead trade studies and provide direction to reduce risk.
• Collaborate with reliability, mechanical, embedded, and systems engineers at all stages from concept to production and deployment.

Skills

Power electronics

Embedded hardware

PCB design

Schematic capture

MCU programming

Education

Electrical Engineering degree

Tools

Altium

SPICE

Oscilloscope

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.

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 is seeking a senior‑level electrical engineer to lead the design and development of high‑reliability embedded systems that support our drone charging and docking infrastructure.

The Ground Systems team at Zipline is in charge of all the infrastructures on the ground supporting our autonomous delivery drones with automatic docking, battery charging, thermal management, ground communication and preflight check. This role is central to enable our next generation of drone logistics, solving complex challenges in power distribution, power conversion, battery charging, high performance microprocessor, high‑speed network communication and system‑level integration. You’ll bring deep technical expertise in power electronics to help shape Zipline’s global infrastructure as we scale.

In addition, you’ll work closely with cross‑functional engineering teams to own the electrical system development from concept to production. This is a hands‑on engineering role, ideal for someone who wants to push the limits of hardware in the real world.

What You’ll Do

• Own the electrical design of Zipline’s dock sensing and control architecture for volume production through a full design cycle including requirements, prototype, schematic capture, layout, and validation.
• Shape the architecture of Zipline’s next generation product, making impactful design decisions daily, while working with a high level of independence.
• Lead trade studies, understand competing design priorities, and provide direction and clarity for burning down risk.
• Proactively seek out opportunities for improvement in system and component level design.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with reliability, mechanical, embedded, and systems engineers in all stages of development, including:
• Concept: System requirement, specification, tradeoff
• Design: Schematic capture, PCB layout, system integration
• Validation: Function and reliability test
• Production: DFM, design drawings, manufacturing, EOL test, certification
• Deployment: Troubleshoot field issues, develop rapid mitigations, roll learnings into future design revision
• Travel occasionally to support supplier and manufacturer visit, product deployment, and field validation

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering or related discipline
• 5+ years of hands‑on experience designing and testing embedded electronics hardware (microcontrollers, sensors, communication networks, etc.)
• Past success developing electronics for critical systems in fields such as energy, transportation, or medical devices.
• Design experience with mixed‑signal PCB, high‑speed digital PCB, microprocessor, ethernet, power electronics, and motor drive.
• Design experience with MCU and digital communications (Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART)
• Proficiency in schematic capture, PCB layout, and simulation tools (Altium, SPICE, etc.)
• Familiarity with UL, IEC, and other electrical safety standards
• Strong lab skills and familiarity with test equipment like oscilloscope, digital multimeter, power analyzer, LCR meter, function generator, spectrum analyzer, etc.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across engineering disciplines
• Must be eligible to work in the U.S.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $185,000 - $245,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.

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.