Senior Electrical Test Engineer — In‑Person (South SF)

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

Job summary

Zipline is hiring EE Test engineers to own end-to-end validation of PCBAs and avionics, from prototype through fleet deployment. You will translate requirements into measurable test criteria, design and maintain test stands, and automate data collection with Python.

This role requires close collaboration with design, reliability, and manufacturing teams in South San Francisco. You will lead failure investigations, establish regression tests, and ensure robust test evidence for release readiness,

Qualifications

• Hands-on electrical/electromechanical validation ownership from development to field deployment.
• Experience designing and building electrical test rigs and automated cycle-test systems.
• Strong electrical engineering fundamentals and sensor/data-acquisition expertise.
• Experience validating mechanisms with actuators, PCBAs, harnesses, and embedded controls.
• Expertise in experimental design, measurement uncertainty, and accelerated testing.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end validation of PCBAs, avionics products, and power electronics from prototype through fleet deployment.
• Translate product requirements and known failure modes into test criteria and pass/fail gates.
• Develop verification plans with coverage, traceability, sample sizes, margins, acceptance criteria, exit gates.
• Design, build, maintain test stands and fixtures, and automate test rigs.
• Select and integrate instrumentation such as sensors, load cells, accelerometers, DAC/DAQ hardware.
• Produce drawings, BOMs, calibration procedures, and maintenance docs for test equipment.
• Validate interactions among electrical hardware, actuators, sensors, and embedded controls.
• Automate test execution, data collection, and health monitoring using Python or equivalents.
• Define sample sizes, acceleration factors, confidence levels, and acceptance criteria for reliability evidence.
• Correlate bench tests with field telemetry, service records, and observed environmental conditions.
• Lead structured failure investigations and root-cause analyses.
• Partner with Mechanical, Electrical, Embedded Software, and Manufacturing teams to drive corrective actions.
• Establish regression tests to detect hardware/software changes.
• Present evidence and recommendations during design and readiness reviews.
• Work with suppliers and manufacturing partners to validate components and tooling.

Skills

PCBAs validation

Test rigs

Sensor integration

Python automation

Root cause analysis

Failure investigations

Cross-functional collaboration

Lab automation

Statistical methods

Test planning

Tools

Python

Job description

Zipline is hiring EE Test engineers to own end-to-end validation of PCBAs and avionics, from prototype through fleet deployment. You will translate requirements into measurable test criteria, design and maintain test stands, and automate data collection with Python.

This role requires close collaboration with design, reliability, and manufacturing teams in South San Francisco. You will lead failure investigations, establish regression tests, and ensure robust test evidence for release readiness,