Senior Mechanical Reliability Engineer - Systems & DfR Lead

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Senior Mechanical Hardware Reliability Engineer to own reliability across autonomous delivery platforms. You’ll work on critical mechanical subsystems, define targets, and guide design decisions with a first-principles approach.

This role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration with design, test, manufacturing, and operations to enable long service lives at scale and to improve reliability methods as the system grows.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of relevant engineering experience developing and validating safety‑critical electromechanical systems through delivery to customers.
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and the ability to reason from first principles about hardware behavior and failure.
• Experience owning technically complex hardware at the subsystem or system level and independently driving ambiguous problems from risk identification through resolution.
• Experience applying reliability methods such as DFMEA, accelerated‑life testing, environmental testing, failure analysis, or life modeling.
• Demonstrated ability to identify the dominant risks in a complex system, prioritize limited engineering and test resources, and determine when sufficient evidence exists to support a design or release decision.
• Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to: explain complex technical issues clearly; synthesize ambiguous information into a coherent problem statement; write concise, decision‑oriented technical documentation; and drive cross‑functional alignment on reliability trade‑offs and technical decisions around design, supply‑chain, quality, manufacturing, finance, and operations.
• Demonstrated ownership and practical problem‑solving ability, including driving technically complex issues through resolution.
• Ability to independently develop new technical depth and move fluidly between system‑level reliability questions and detailed component‑level investigations.
• Experience with mechanisms, robotics, long‑life mechanical systems is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Own the reliability strategy for mission‑critical mechanical subsystems or entire systems, such as the Dropbox or delivery pod, applying Design‑for‑Reliability (DfR) and Physics‑of‑Failure (PoF) principles.
• Define system reliability targets, life requirements, and release criteria based on safety, availability, unit economics, operational burden, and the maturity of the program. Translate these targets into design‑level requirements, verification plans, and objective pass/fail criteria.
• Lead system‑ and component‑level FMEAs to identify the highest‑value reliability risks, influence architecture and design decisions, and prioritize where deeper analysis or testing is needed.
• Develop Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) and environmental test campaigns that efficiently demonstrate long‑term performance, including determining how to revalidate systems as designs evolve.
• Lead complex test failures and field issues from initial triage through root cause, risk assessment, and corrective action, including making technically grounded recommendations about hardware readiness and release.
• Sign off on test verification results and assess hardware readiness for flight from a reliability standpoint.
• Define operational life limits and service intervals using a combination of test data, field returns, and statistical models.
• Provide clear technical direction in ambiguous situations, balancing reliability risk against schedule, resources, cost, and operational impact.
• Improve Zipline’s reliability methods, tools, standards, and decision‑making processes as the company scales.

Skills

DFMEA

ALT testing

Environmental testing

Failure analysis

Life modeling

Systems reliability

First principles

Cross-functional communication

Design-for-Reliability

Physics-of-Failure

Education

B.S./M.S. in Mechanical or Materials Eng.

Job description

Zipline is seeking a Senior Mechanical Hardware Reliability Engineer to own reliability across autonomous delivery platforms. You’ll work on critical mechanical subsystems, define targets, and guide design decisions with a first-principles approach.

This role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration with design, test, manufacturing, and operations to enable long service lives at scale and to improve reliability methods as the system grows.