Senior Motor Development Engineer – Stator Winding

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline seeks a Senior Motor Development Engineer in California to advance the next generation of autonomous drone motors. You will turn novel motor concepts into repeatable, production-ready processes, and work across design, manufacturing, test, controls, and supply chain to build scalable motors.

The role demands hands-on fabrication, fixture design, debugging winding processes, and close collaboration with suppliers to ensure robust, scalable manufacturing.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or related field.
• 5+ years in electromechanical product development or production equipment.
• Experience taking concepts to prototype, validation, and production release.
• Strong hands-on skills with fixtures, tooling, measurement systems, and production hardware.
• Familiarity with stator winding/manufacturing processes or motor assembly equipment is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and industrialization of stator winding and motor assembly processes from prototype to production readiness.
• Develop manufacturing methods for wire forming, winding, insertion, termination, impregnation, adhesive application, and related operations.
• Design, prototype, debug, and validate tooling, fixtures, gauges, and production equipment.
• Translate design intent into manufacturable process specs, equipment requirements, and acceptance criteria.
• Plan hands-on experiments, DOE studies, and process trials to evaluate new materials and winding methods.
• Build and test prototype motors and stators; investigate defects using root-cause methods.
• Establish process windows and inspection methods to support repeatable manufacturing.
• Collaborate with electrical, thermal, controls, test, quality, and operations teams on DFM and process integration.
• Work with suppliers to drive equipment development, vendor reviews, and factory acceptance testing.

Skills

Hands-on mechanical skills

CAD

Structured problem solving

DOE

Measurement systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering

Tools

CAD software

Measurement equipment

Factory automation

Job description

Zipline seeks a Senior Motor Development Engineer in California to advance the next generation of autonomous drone motors. You will turn novel motor concepts into repeatable, production-ready processes, and work across design, manufacturing, test, controls, and supply chain to build scalable motors.

The role demands hands-on fabrication, fixture design, debugging winding processes, and close collaboration with suppliers to ensure robust, scalable manufacturing.