Hardware Reliability Engineer

Zipline • South San Francisco, CA

3d

About The Position

As a Mechanical Hardware Reliability Engineer, you will be responsible for defining and delivering the Safety and Reliability attribute of our latest drone-delivery systems. You’ll combine deep knowledge of failure phenomena in electromechanical devices, hands-on experimentation, and statistical modeling to ensure Zipline’s latest drone-delivery platforms survive the most demanding environments on Earth. Your work will span from early architecture decisions, like where to apply redundancy, fail-operational strategies, and fault tolerance through the definition of accelerated tests, coding reliability models, and verification methods. You’ll uncover risks early, provide data to risk-based decisions, and guide design teams with clear, actionable recommendations. In doing so, you’ll directly 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 the 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 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.

Responsibilities

• Own the reliability strategy for mission-critical mechanical subsystems or entire systems, applying Design-for-Reliability (DfR) and Physics-of-Failure (PoF) principles.
• Translate system reliability targets into design-level requirements, verification plans, and objective pass/fail criteria.
• Lead DFMEA efforts with cross-functional teams to identify early risks and drive mitigation.
• Develop Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) and environmental test campaigns to validate long-term hardware performance.
• Author test plans and procedures with clear, data-driven pass/fail criteria.
• Lead failure analysis and structured root cause investigations, from component to system-level.
• Lead failure analysis and structured root-cause investigations, 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 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 This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior