Senior Flight-Critical Embedded Software Engineer

Zipline; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking an experienced engineer to own avionics subsystems end-to-end, delivering flight- and safety-critical embedded software on embedded Linux. You will develop drivers, real-time interfaces, fault management, and deterministic test tooling for large-scale robotic systems.

You will collaborate across hardware, systems, and operations to ensure robust validation, field readiness, and reliable fleet deployment with measurable outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in EE/CS or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years in embedded/flight-critical systems or equivalent proven impact.
• Experience shipping embedded production code in C++ or Rust.
• Experience with embedded Linux environments; bare-metal/RTOS experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own avionics subsystems (e.g., GNSS, Cellular, IMU) end-to-end.
• Develop and maintain flight- and safety-critical embedded software on Linux.
• Create and run deterministic test, logging, and regression suites.
• Lead HW-in-the-loop, bench, and field validation with cross-functional teams.
• Drive RCAs, fixes, and ensure metrics show fleet-wide improvement.

Skills

C++/Rust

Embedded Linux

Flight-critical systems

Deterministic RTOS/RT communications

Hardware bring-up

Education

Bachelor's degree in EE/CS

Tools

JTAG

Job description

Zipline is seeking an experienced engineer to own avionics subsystems end-to-end, delivering flight- and safety-critical embedded software on embedded Linux. You will develop drivers, real-time interfaces, fault management, and deterministic test tooling for large-scale robotic systems.

You will collaborate across hardware, systems, and operations to ensure robust validation, field readiness, and reliable fleet deployment with measurable outcomes.