Senior Mechanical Engineer, Long Range

Namely; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 145,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking an owner-oriented Mechanical Engineer for its Long Range Platform team to design, validate, and deliver airframe and electromechanical hardware used in long-distance autonomous delivery aircraft.

You will work across field logistics, fleet operations, and mass production to reduce weight, improve reliability, and enable higher sortie rates with end-to-end hardware responsibility from requirements to sustainment.

Qualifications

• 4+ years experience designing electromechanical and structural assemblies.
• Deep CAD fluency managing multi-part subassemblies and top-level integration.
• Proven use of FEA and hand calculations to establish safety margins for flight hardware.

Responsibilities

• Own long-range mechanical subsystems from concept to production.
• Translate fleet requirements into mechanical performance targets and designs.
• Produce CAD models, GD&T, and manufacturing drawings for volume production.
• Run first-principles analysis and validate with bench tests and flight-representative rigs.
• Prototype rapidly, lead build-test-iterate campaigns, and define go/no-go metrics.

Skills

CAD fluency

FEA

Tolerance analysis

Prototype/testing

Supplier engagement

Tools

NX

Job description

About Zipline

Zipline is the world\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.

Our system strengths 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\u2019s 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

You are an owner-oriented Mechanical Engineer joining Zipline\u2019s Long Range Platform team to design, validate, and deliver critical airframe and electromechanical hardware used in long-distance autonomous delivery aircraft. This role sits at the intersection of field logistics, fleet operations, and mass production: your work will reduce aircraft weight, increase structural and mechanism reliability in harsh field conditions, and enable higher sortie rates for customers who depend on predictable, high-uptime deliveries. You will operate with end-to-end hardware responsibility—from requirement definition and architecture trade-offs through prototype validation, supplier integration, production ramp, and in-field sustainment—and you will make decisions that directly affect fleet availability, safety margins, and cost-per-delivery.

What You\u2019ll Do

• Own specific Long Range mechanical subsystems (e.g., wing/fuselage primary structure, deployable delivery mechanism, landing gear and attach fittings, or integrated payload-mount assemblies) and be the primary technical lead from concept to sustained production.
• Translate operational and fleet requirements (range, payload, sortie cadence, field-maintainability, service intervals, and environmental exposure) into quantitative mechanical performance targets and design architectures.
• Produce and iterate detailed CAD models, tolerance stacks, GD&T, and manufacturing drawings enabling supplier quotes, DFx reviews, and inspection plans for volume production.
• Run first-principles analysis and engineering simulation (FEA, buckling, fatigue, jointed-assembly loads) and validate with bench tests and flight-representative test rigs; close the loop between analysis and measured performance.
• Prototype rapidly, lead hands-on build-test-iterate campaigns, and produce test plans that deliver go/no-go metrics (fatigue cycles, damage tolerance thresholds, mean-time-between-failure targets) tied to release criteria and field reliability goals.
• Define and own verification matrices, failure modes & effects for assigned assemblies, and corrective actions through qualification and production ramp; drive root-cause investigations and implement design fixes with clear timelines and acceptance criteria.
• Partner daily with Electrical, Software, Integration/Test, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Operations to resolve cross-functional tradeoffs, supplier nonconformances, and production issues; act as the escalation owner for mechanical issues impacting fleet operations.
• Support field deployments and production startups as required (on-site presence during launches, supplier plant visits, or depot troubleshooting) and ensure handoff documentation, service procedures, and spares strategies are in place.

What You\u2019ll Bring

• 4+ years industry experience designing electromechanical and structural assemblies; demonstrable ownership of complex subassemblies through full product cycles (design → qualification → production ramp).
• Deep CAD fluency (managing 20–30 part subassemblies and top-level integration), rigorous GD&T skills, and experience producing manufacturing-ready drawings and inspection criteria.
• Proven track record applying FEA, hand calculations (beam, buckling, bolted joints), tolerance analysis, and test correlation to establish safety and reliability margins for flight or field-critical hardware.
• Hands-on prototyping and test experience: you build fixtures, run validation campaigns, and close design loops from test data to production intent.
• Direct supplier engagement experience: negotiating DFM changes, resolving quality issues, and translating supplier capabilities into producible designs.
• Experience with structural components, mechanisms, fastener systems, composites or metallic airframe-scale assemblies, and designing for serviceability in field conditions.
• Willingness and ability to travel to suppliers, production sites, and field depots on an as-needed basis (periodic domestic and occasional international travel).
• Strong bias for taking end-to-end ownership: you will stay with issues until verified fixes are in production and fielded.

Location & Logistics

This role is based in the listed Long Range engineering location (on-site or hybrid as specified by the team). Expect regular on-site collaboration during critical phases (prototype builds, qualification weeks, production launches) and periodic travel to supplier/manufacturing sites and field depots.

Nice-to-have

Aerospace or automotive validation experience, composites design, high-efficiency electric powertrain exposure, NX proficiency, and prior experience scaling prototypes to injection molding, stamping, or extrusion processes.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $145,000 - $220,000. 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.