Senior/Staff Power Electronics Hardware Reliability Engineer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Performance bonuses

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Zipline is building autonomous aircraft and ground infrastructure that must operate safely across demanding environments, high utilization, and long service lives. As a Senior or Staff Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer focused on power electronics, you will serve as the reliability technical lead for some of Zipline’s most critical high‑power electrical systems.

Your initial focus will be our drone charging systems, which convert AC grid power into multiple low‑voltage DC outputs used to

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• At least 5 years of relevant engineering experience, with 8–10+ years strongly preferred for Staff-level scope.
• Deep experience in high-voltage/high-power electrical systems including grid-connected converters and power electronics.
• Strong ability to reason from first principles about hardware behavior and failure.
• Experience leading DFMEA and reliability testing programs.

Responsibilities

• Own the reliability strategy for high-voltage power electronics and power-conversion systems, starting with grid-connected converters.
• Identify and prioritize dominant reliability risks across electrical, thermal, mechanical, environmental, and operational stresses.
• Lead DFMEA efforts with cross-functional teams to identify and mitigate risks.
• Evaluate architectures, schematics, PCB layouts, components, packaging, thermal management, insulation, connectors, and interconnects from a reliability perspective.
• Develop physics-based ALT and environmental test campaigns to validate long-term hardware performance.
• Write clear, technically rigorous test plans and provide reliability sign-off on results.
• Lead failure analysis and structured root-cause investigations from component to system level.
• Define operational life limits and service intervals using test data, field returns, and models.
• Advocate for reliability across functions and scale improvements in methods, tools, and standards.

Skills

Reliability engineering

Power electronics

DFMEA

Accelerated Life Testing (ALT)

Failure analysis

Cross-functional leadership

Technical writing

Education

B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering

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.
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 is building autonomous aircraft and ground infrastructure that must operate safely and reliably across demanding environments, high utilization, and long service lives with minimal maintenance. As a Senior or Staff Electrical Hardware Reliability Engineer focused on power electronics, you will serve as the reliability technical lead for some of Zipline’s most critical high-power electrical systems. Your initial focus will be our drone charging systems, which convert AC grid power into multiple low-voltage DC outputs used to charge Zipline aircraft and power our docking station. Depending on your background and evolving program needs, your scope may also include the broader dock electrical system and aircraft power electronics, including power distribution, battery, busbars, and related assemblies.
This role requires deep electrical engineering judgment. You will identify the dominant lifetime and failure risks in complex power-conversion hardware, determine how those risks should be evaluated, and influence the architecture and detailed design accordingly. You will apply Physics‑of‑Failure, Design‑for‑Reliability, accelerated testing, and hands‑on failure analysis to understand degradation mechanisms such as thermomechanical fatigue, dielectric breakdown, insulation aging, capacitor degradation, interconnect fatigue, corrosion, and electrical or thermal overstress.
You will work closely with design, test, systems, manufacturing, supplier quality, and operations teams. You will be expected not only to execute reliability activities, but also to provide independent technical leadership, challenge assumptions, and define what good power‑electronics reliability engineering looks like at Zipline.

What You'll Do

• Own the reliability strategy for high-voltage power electronics and power-conversion systems, beginning with Zipline’s grid-connected power converters.
• Identify and prioritize the dominant reliability risks for high voltage power electronics, considering electrical, thermal, mechanical, environmental, and operational stresses.
• Lead DFMEA efforts with cross-functional teams to identify early risks and drive mitigation.
• Evaluate power-electronics architectures, schematics, PCB layouts, component selections, packaging concepts, thermal-management approaches, insulation systems, connectors, and high-current interconnects from a reliability perspective.
• Develop physics-based Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) and environmental test campaigns to validate long-term hardware performance.
• Author clear, technically rigorous test plans and specifications, and provide reliability sign-off on test results and hardware readiness.
• Lead failure analysis and structured root cause investigations, from component to system-level.
• Define operational life limits and service intervals using a combination of test data, field returns, and statistical models.
• Advocate cross-functionally for reliability: maintain an appropriately high reliability bar based on risk assessment and stage of program
• Improve Zipline’s reliability methods, tools, standards, and decision-making processes as the company scales.

What You'll Bring

• B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• At least 5 years of relevant engineering experience, with 8‑10+ years strongly preferred for Staff-level scope.
• A strong electrical engineering foundation and the ability to reason from first principles about hardware behavior and failure.
• Deep experience developing and validating safety-critical high-voltage and high-power electrical systems such as grid-connected converters, industrial power supplies, EV charging systems, inverters, high band gap semiconductors, renewable-energy systems, aerospace power systems, or similar equipment.
• Solid understanding of schematic design and PCB layout for power circuits.
• 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 learn quickly, independently develop new technical depth, and adapt as program needs evolve.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $140,000-$230,000. 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. This position may be hired at one of two levels based on the candidate’s experience, skills, and demonstrated scope:

• Senior Power Electronics Hardware Reliability Engineer: $140,000–$180,000
• Staff Power Electronics Hardware Reliability Engineer: $160,000–$230,000

Level and base salary will be determined through the interview process. Factors may include relevant experience, technical proficiency, expected responsibilities, location, and internal equity.

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.