Mechanical Engineering Manager, Zipline
Ground Systems
$212-272k
3-5 days a week in office (South San Francisco, CA)
Transforming the way goods move
Be an early applicant
Transforming the way goods move
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$212-272k
3-5 days a week in office (South San Francisco, CA)
1001+ employees
Company mission
To build the world's first logistics system that serves all people equally.
Role
Who you are
- The ideal candidate will have an outstanding technical background, delights in driving product definition with a customer-centric attitude, and enjoys leading and growing engineers as they continue to revolutionize the supply chain and logistic industry
- Past success leading engineering teams to rapidly develop first of its kind hardware and deploy into the field with the level of rigor that a high volume or safety critical application requires
- Technical depth in electro-mechanical and mechanism design. You have made impactful and direct contributions at the architectural level in your career
- Experience with design for electronics packaging/harnessing, electric motors & actuators, mechanisms
- Sheet metal and plastic design
- Structural design experience including hand calcs and FEA
- Enthusiasm for building a team - finding and convincing top talent to join you in your work
- Past success managing and developing an excellent team of engineers
- Past success bringing products through the full product development life cycle using high volume manufacturing practices
- If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!
What the job involves
- The Ground Systems team at Zipline is in charge of all the infrastructures on the ground supporting our autonomous delivery drones with package loading, docking, battery charging, thermal management, ground communication and preflight checks
- This role is central to enable our next generation of drone logistics, solving complex challenges in partner integration for package loading and charging infrastructure for autonomous drone operations
- Zipline is hiring a Mechanical Engineering Manager that is excited to execute clean sheet innovative designs for our next generation of ground system infrastructure for our Platform 2 system while supporting the scaling of our current operations
- As the lead of this team, you will be responsible for leading a multidisciplinary team of mechanical engineers with broad cross-functional engagement to develop and deliver the ground infrastructure for partner site integration across healthcare, retail and restaurant applications and global metros
- This effort will enable Zipline’s impact to expand from 100’s of thousand deliveries/year to 100’s of millions in a wide variety of environmental conditions around the world
- This person will be responsible for the design of Platform 2 ground systems infrastructure and equipment including packaging loading integration systems at our partners
- This will include leading the team through the scaling of Platform 2 operations including operational triage, root causing and strategic mitigation
- This leader will also drive the definition of, and shepherd in the next generation of package loading system design to unlock scaling deployments and seamless partner integration to ramp customer deliveries
- They will act as a player-coach who is as comfortable providing strategic vision as they are being in the weeds of the team's designs and technical mentorship
- Develop robust and reliable integrated electromechanical assemblies and structures that can be built at high volume
- Work with Industrial Design, Go To Market and Deployment teams to deliver seamless integrated and easy to deploy products with delightful user experience
- Drive system level datuming/tolerancing strategy to achieve excellent manufacturability/serviceability
- Design customer centric products that meet reliability and lifetime requirements, demonstrated through component and system testing
- Drive architecture and tradeoffs in system design to optimize for full cost of ownership
- Leverage your technical leadership experience in relevant fields to establish a team culture that biases towards action and tests ideas to achieve radically simple designs
- Build strong cross functional relationships, navigate competing constraints to drive product architecture and roadmapping with customer-centric design
- Motivate your team with a clear vision and create ambitious plans for your team’s work while holding a high bar for technical quality
- Build your team by hiring world class engineers
Our take
Zipline is reinventing how the world moves goods - one flight at a time. What started as a bold idea to deliver life-saving medical supplies by drones has grown into the world's first logistics network designed to serve everyone, everywhere. From rushing blood and vaccines to remote clinics, to dropping off everyday essential for Walmart customers, Ziplines's autonomous drones are proving that fast, reliable delivery doesn't have to be limited by roads or geography.
Zipline has an edge over potential future competitors as the company has thousands of hours and over 35 million miles of flight to prove the system is safe and effective. It’s also one of the first companies to receive a full commercial operating certificate, putting Zipline in a strong position to continuously branch out to other markets.
The unicorn company operates globally and has signed its first government contract with Rwanda to provide up to 2 million drone deliveries by 2029. Beyond government partnerships, Zipline has its sight set on everyday consumers, preparing to launch commercial deliveries straight to individuals houses. With its Walmart collaboration expanding and even Chipotle orders taking to the skies in Texas, Zipline isn't just redefining delivery - it's aiming to reach every corner of commerce, with a future that looks as bright as its ambitions.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
34% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Nov 2025
$150m
GRANT
Apr 2023
$330m
SERIES F
Total funding: $963.7m
Company HQ
South San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton
(Co-Founder & CEO)Having studied Economics and Biotechnology at Harvard, they worked for almost 11 months as a self-employed rock climber. They combined their academic and practical experience to co-found Zipline in July 2011.
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