Senior Mechanical Design Engineer — Ground Systems

Candidate; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 186,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to own the design of the ground systems towers and docks. You will push innovative, modular, scalable solutions using first principles to meet aggressive timelines and reliability targets.

You’ll collaborate with electrical, software, civil, NPI and supply chain teams to move designs from concept to production, including hand calcs and CAD iterations for multi-part assemblies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and eligible to work in the US.
• Proven track record owning complex subassemblies or full systems.
• Strong fundamentals in mechanics, load estimation and CAD.
• Experience with manufacturing methods and supplier collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Own design of structural components, mechanisms, and electronics integration.
• Ship and iterate on system-level designs for towers and docks.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with electrical, software, civil, NPI and supply chain teams.
• Perform hand calculations and use data from tests to guide decisions.
• Downselect designs based on analysis and prototyping results.
• Maintain BOMs, release parts, and keep timelines up-to-date.
• Communicate complex concepts clearly to varied audiences.
• Travel to visit customers and suppliers (<10%).
• Ensure designs meet high reliability targets and production readiness.
• Lead architecture decisions for next-gen ground systems.

Skills

Subassembly ownership

Mechanics fundamentals

CAD proficiency

FEA

Manufacturing methods

CM collaboration

System ownership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

NX CAD

3D CAD

Job description

Zipline is seeking a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to own the design of the ground systems towers and docks. You will push innovative, modular, scalable solutions using first principles to meet aggressive timelines and reliability targets.

You’ll collaborate with electrical, software, civil, NPI and supply chain teams to move designs from concept to production, including hand calcs and CAD iterations for multi-part assemblies.