Staff Controls Engineer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably.

Zipline operates on four continents and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. Our team seeks practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated expertise in controls, flight dynamics, system identification, or modeling of complex physical systems.
• Experience developing and using high-fidelity simulations to evaluate system performance and guide engineering decisions.
• Experience analyzing experimental or flight-test data and using evidence to validate models or improve designs.
• Ability to lead ambiguous technical problems from framing through analysis, recommendation, and cross-functional execution.
• Strong engineering judgment about model assumptions, uncertainty, validation limits, and design tradeoffs.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills for explaining technical findings to engineering and operational partners.
• Comfort working closely with flight-test teams, global fleet data, and customer context to understand real-world system behavior.

Responsibilities

• Own dynamic models of complex vehicle systems within Zipline’s six-degree-of-freedom simulation.
• Build controls algorithms and oversee development, testing, analysis and deployment.
• Define analysis approaches linking design choices to vehicle performance.
• Evaluate designs through simulation, flight-test data, and customer aircraft data.
• Improve simulation fidelity by reconciling predictions with flight behavior.
• Lead recommendations for controls, vehicle, and system design improvements with partners.
• Build reusable analysis tools for performance investigations and tradeoffs.
• Translate operational insights into engineering priorities to improve logistics reliability.

Skills

Controls

Flight dynamics

System identification

Modeling complex systems

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 builds, manufactures, and operates autonomous delivery systems that move critical goods where they are needed. The Controls team develops the models, tools, and flight software foundations that allow aircraft to complete missions autonomously across changing conditions. As a Staff Controls Engineer, you will own system-performance analysis for vehicle designs and help turn flight and fleet data into better models, design decisions, and operational capability. You will work closely with controls, flight test, hardware, manufacturing, and customer-facing teams to identify where performance limits matter most and drive technical improvements.

What You’ll Do

• Own dynamic models of complex vehicle systems and components within Zipline’s high-fidelity six-degree-of-freedom simulation.
• Build controls algorithms that are robust, performant, fault tolerant and own the development, testing, analysis and deployment of the same.
• Define analysis approaches that connect design choices, requirements, limitations, and environmental conditions to vehicle performance.
• Evaluate existing and future vehicle designs through simulation, flight-test data, and data from customer aircraft in the global fleet.
• Improve simulation fidelity by reconciling model predictions with observed flight behavior and identifying the highest-value gaps.
• Lead technical recommendations for controls, vehicle, and system design improvements with software, hardware, flight test, and manufacturing partners.
• Build reusable analysis tools that enable teams to investigate performance questions, compare design options, and make informed tradeoffs.
• Translate operational and customer insights into engineering priorities that improve the reliability and capability of the logistics network.

What You’ll Bring

• Demonstrated expertise in controls, flight dynamics, system identification, or modeling of complex physical systems.
• Experience developing and using high-fidelity simulations to evaluate system performance and guide engineering decisions.
• Experience analyzing experimental or flight-test data and using evidence to validate models or improve designs.
• Ability to lead ambiguous technical problems from framing through analysis, recommendation, and cross-functional execution.
• Strong engineering judgment about model assumptions, uncertainty, validation limits, and design tradeoffs.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills for explaining technical findings to engineering and operational partners.
• Comfort working closely with flight-test teams, global fleet data, and customer context to understand real-world system behavior.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $180,000 - $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.

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.