Concept and Architecture Engineering Contractor

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

5d•$3,000 - $6,000•Onsite

About The Position

Zipline is initiating a highly confidential new product development effort within its New Products team. This team has a history of architecting and developing Zipline's current systems from their inception. The goal is to embark on another clean-sheet development effort with the potential for significant business impact. At this early stage, Zipline seeks to engage a small number of exceptional external engineers, designers, builders, and creative problem-solvers to collaborate directly with the core New Products team. The objective is to introduce diverse technical perspectives into the design process, explore the solution space rapidly, challenge assumptions, and identify unconventional solutions to complex problems. This will involve an intensive, collaborative design sprint held at Zipline’s flight test facility in Half Moon Bay, California, from September 28 to October 2, 2026. The company plans to host a limited number of external participants daily, each for approximately one to two days. The location provides participants with direct exposure to Zipline's systems, hardware, and operating environment, allowing them to understand the context of the problems and inform their ideas through practical observation and interaction with the team.

Requirements

Demonstrated history of building difficult things and solving problems that initially appeared intractable.
Technical creativity.
Strong engineering intuition.
Hands-on ability.
Intellectual range.
Track record of turning unconventional ideas into working hardware or systems.
Comfortable entering an unfamiliar problem space.
Ability to get up to speed quickly.
Ability to approach a problem without being constrained by how it has traditionally been solved.
Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.

Responsibilities

Work directly with members of the New Products team on ambiguous, open-ended technical problems.
Generate and evaluate concepts from first principles rather than simply iterating on existing solutions.
Bring lessons, approaches, and intuition from difficult problems solved in other products and industries.
Rapidly sketch, prototype, analyze, or otherwise communicate potential solutions.
Challenge assumptions and help identify portions of the design space that may have been overlooked.
Use direct exposure to Zipline's systems and operations to develop a grounded understanding of the problem.
Operate effectively with very little structure and incomplete information.
Maintain strict confidentiality regarding the project and information shared during the engagement.