Hardware Reliability Engineer

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

1d•$117,000 - $165,000

About The Position

Zipline is hiring a Mechanical Hardware Reliability Engineer to define and deliver the safety and reliability attributes of its drone-delivery systems. The role combines knowledge of failure phenomena in electromechanical devices, hands-on experimentation, and statistical modeling to help ensure drone platforms operate reliably in demanding environments. The engineer will contribute from early architecture decisions—including redundancy, fail-operational strategies, and fault tolerance—through accelerated testing, reliability modeling, and verification. The role identifies risks early, provides evidence for risk-based decisions, and gives design teams actionable recommendations. It also helps shape the long-term reliability and safety of Zipline’s autonomous aircraft and ground infrastructure.

Requirements

B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and ability to reason from first principles about hardware behavior and failure.
Hands-on experience developing and validating safety-critical electromechanical systems through delivery to customers.
Experience applying reliability methods such as DFMEA, accelerated-life testing, environmental testing, failure analysis, or life modeling.
Strong technical communication skills, including explaining complex technical issues clearly, synthesizing ambiguous information, writing concise decision-oriented documentation, and driving cross-functional alignment on reliability trade-offs and technical decisions.
Demonstrated ownership and practical problem-solving ability, including driving technically complex issues through resolution.
Ability to learn quickly, develop technical depth independently, and adapt as program needs evolve.

Responsibilities

Own reliability strategy for mission-critical mechanical subsystems or systems using Design-for-Reliability and Physics-of-Failure principles.
Translate system reliability targets into design-level requirements, verification plans, and objective pass/fail criteria.
Lead cross-functional DFMEA efforts to identify risks and drive mitigation.
Develop accelerated life testing and environmental test campaigns to validate long-term hardware performance.
Author test plans and procedures with data-driven pass/fail criteria.
Lead failure analysis and structured root-cause investigations from component to system level, translating findings into design, manufacturing, or operational actions.
Sign off on test verification results and assess hardware readiness for flight from a reliability standpoint.
Define operational life limits and service intervals using test data, field returns, and statistical models.
Advocate cross-functionally for an appropriately high reliability bar based on risk assessment and program stage.
Improve reliability methods, tools, standards, and decision-making processes as the company scales.