Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer - Flight-Critical Systems

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline in South San Francisco seeks a Senior Embedded Software Engineer for the Long Range Platform. You will own low-level and edge software for safe, reliable long-range aircraft within a production network.

You'll work at the hardware/software boundary, delivering flight- and safety-critical code on bare-metal/RTOS, plus diagnostics and validation tooling that proves reliability in the field. This role impacts fleet reliability, mission success, and maintenance load across the deployed

Qualifications

• Substantial systems-level embedded production code experience in C++ or Rust.
• Strong proficiency with bare-metal and RTOS environments; familiarity with Linux is a plus.
• Proven track record in safety-critical, flight-critical or robotics systems.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end embedded subsystems for the long-range platform (firmware, drivers, runtime).
• Deliver flight- and safety-critical code on microcontrollers (bare-metal/RTOS).
• Define measurable reliability outcomes and instrument flight data for regression.
• Lead hardware-in-the-loop, bench and field validation with cross-functional teams.
• Build tooling for deterministic test, logging, and regression testing.
• Investigate field incidents, drive RCA, and implement fixes with fleet impact in mind.
• Collaborate with avionics, systems engineering, manufacturing, and flight operations on release criteria.

Skills

Embedded C++/Rust

Python tooling

Bare-metal/RTOS

Embedded Linux

Diagnostics & testing

Education

Bachelor's in EE/CS

Tools

JTAG

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Job description

Zipline in South San Francisco seeks a Senior Embedded Software Engineer for the Long Range Platform. You will own low-level and edge software for safe, reliable long-range aircraft within a production network.

You'll work at the hardware/software boundary, delivering flight- and safety-critical code on bare-metal/RTOS, plus diagnostics and validation tooling that proves reliability in the field. This role impacts fleet reliability, mission success, and maintenance load across the deployed