Senior Motion Designer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Senior Motion Designer to bring Zipline’s products, operations, people, and impact to life through animation. You will translate briefs into storyboards, style frames, and polished motion work across social, launches, explainers, events, and web.

You will collaborate with Communications, Brand, Marketing, and engineers to ensure accurate, compelling visual storytelling while maintaining Zipline’s brand identity across channels.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional motion design experience in in-house, agency, studio, or production environments.
• A strong reel and portfolio demonstrating motion craft, design judgment, and range in 2D and 3D.
• Expert proficiency in Adobe After Effects; strong working proficiency in Illustrator, Photoshop, and Figma.
• Experience with Cinema 4D, Blender, or other 3D packages including lighting, rendering, and compositing.
• Strong typography, composition, color, and timing fundamentals; ability to storyboard and plan shots.
• Experience animating for social, brand video, product launches, explainers, and live-action integration.

Responsibilities

• Design and animate motion graphics for social, brand video, product launches, explainers, events, and web assets.
• Translate briefs and technical information into storyboards, style frames, animatics, and final animation.
• Create clear visual explanations of Zipline's products and operations using typography, diagrams, data, and 2D/3D animation.
• Develop titles, lower thirds, transitions, and graphic packages that integrate with live-action footage.
• Composite motion and VFX into footage, with tracking, masking, and screen replacement.

Skills

Motion design

Strong reel

2D & 3D work

Typography

Storyboarding

Creative collaboration

Attention to detail

Tools

After Effects

Illustrator

Photoshop

Figma

Cinema 4D

Blender

Unreal Engine

Job description

About Zipline

Zipline is the world’s 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’s 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.

About Zipline

Zipline is the world’s 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’s 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’s 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’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations. Our system strengthens 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’s 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

Zipline’s communications team shapes and shares the company’s story and impact. We develop and implement strategies and tactics to educate our target audiences about Zipline, tell stories that raise awareness about what we’re doing and the impact that we’re having, increase acceptance of and excitement for our system, and cultivate ambassadors. We are passionate storytellers and make complex topics simple and understandable. Zipline is expanding in the U.S. and will be delivering food, medicine, retail items and more directly to people’s homes in many states over the next few years. We are seeking a Senior Motion Designer to bring Zipline’s products, operations, people, and impact to life through animation and motion graphics. You will translate creative briefs, scripts, brand systems, and technical concepts into storyboards, style frames, animatics, and polished motion work. Your work will span social and brand video, product launches, explainers, events, web, and presentations. You will work closely with Communications, Brand, Social, Marketing, engineers, and operators, as well as a Video Producer, Cinematographer, and Editor. This is a hands‑on role for a designer who combines strong visual fundamentals with animation craft and can make complex technology clear, accurate, and compelling.

What You’ll Do

• Design and animate motion graphics for social and brand video, product launches, technical explainers, customer stories, events, web, and presentations.
• Translate briefs, scripts, static designs, and technical information into storyboards, style frames, motion studies, animatics, and final animation.
• Create clear visual explanations of Zipline’s products and operations using typography, maps, diagrams, data, product interfaces, callouts, and 2D and 3D animation.
• Develop titles, lower thirds, transitions, end cards, graphic packages, and other motion elements that integrate cleanly with live‑action footage.
• Composite motion and visual effects into footage, including screen replacements, tracked graphics, masks, cleanup, and other shot‑based work.
• Collaborate with the Editor on timing, pacing, integration, renders, revisions, and delivery of motion assets within finished video.
• Partner with the Video Producer to estimate effort, confirm requirements, plan reviews, and deliver work against production schedules.
• Work with brand designers and creative partners to apply Zipline’s visual identity consistently in motion across channels and formats.
• Collaborate with engineers, operators, and other subject‑matter experts to represent products, interfaces, workflows, and operational details accurately.
• Build and maintain reusable templates, animation components, title systems, project files, and documentation that improve consistency and production efficiency.
• Adapt work across durations, aspect ratios, resolutions, placements, and regional versions while preserving visual quality and brand consistency.
• Maintain organized source files, linked assets, naming conventions, version history, render settings, and archives for efficient collaboration and reuse.

What You’ll Bring

• 6+ years of professional motion design experience in an in‑house creative team, agency, studio, production company, or similarly demanding environment.
• A strong reel and portfolio demonstrating motion craft, design judgment, visual storytelling, and range across 2D and 3D work, with your role identified for each project.
• Expert proficiency in Adobe After Effects and strong working proficiency in Illustrator, Photoshop, and Figma.
• Professional experience with Cinema 4D, Blender, or another 3D package, including animation, lighting, rendering, and compositing workflows.
• Strong fundamentals in typography, composition, color, hierarchy, timing, easing, rhythm, pacing, and animation principles.
• Experience developing storyboards, style frames, motion tests, and animatics that clearly communicate an approach before production.
• Experience integrating animation with live‑action footage through compositing, tracking, masking, keying, and screen replacement.
• Ability to translate complex products, systems, data, and technical concepts into clear and engaging visual communication.
• Experience building reusable motion templates and maintaining organized, production‑ready project files.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to explain design choices, incorporate feedback, and work effectively with creative and technical partners.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple assignments, versions, and deadlines in a fast‑moving production environment.
• Experience with robotics, autonomy, aviation, logistics, hardware, infrastructure, healthcare, or another technically complex field is a plus.
• Experience with CAD‑derived assets, product visualization, simulation, UI animation, data visualization, Lottie, Rive, Unreal Engine, or real‑time workflows is a plus.
• Familiarity with emerging animation, compositing, and AI‑assisted creative tools is a plus.

You’ll Thrive in the Role If:

• You are a hands‑on maker who enjoys moving from early frames and motion tests through polished final animation.
• You use motion to direct attention, explain how something works, and strengthen a story.
• You are curious about complex technology and diligent about representing it accurately.
• You collaborate well with producers, editors, designers, and technical subject‑matter experts.
• You respond constructively to feedback and can iterate while maintaining craft and consistency.
• You care about organized files, reliable handoffs, and the production details that make creative work reusable.
• You are passionate about Zipline’s mission, impact, and products.

What Else You Need To Know

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.