Manufacturing Process Engineer

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

8d•$104,000 - $180,000

About The Position

As a Manufacturing Process Engineer at Zipline, you will turn complex electro-mechanical products into safe, reliable, repeatable production lines for aircraft, docks, and logistics hardware. You will own assigned final-assembly and feeder sub-assembly lines from process definition and tooling through validation, production release, and sustainment. The work connects aerospace-quality manufacturing with field operations and rapid production growth, including scaling output from tens to thousands of units per week over the next 1–3 years. The initial priority is bringing a complex electro-mechanical sub-assembly in-house and validating its production line within months. The position is part of the manufacturing engineering team; its exact focus will reflect the candidate’s strengths and team needs. Rare travel between sites may be required during ramp and sustainment. Nights or weekends may be needed to support critical production ramps or outages. Zipline operates an autonomous logistics system delivering food, medicine, and other essential goods. Its customers include healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants, and global businesses. The company describes its work as improving access, strengthening supply chains, reducing congestion, and creating economic opportunity. The starting cash range is $104,000–$180,000. Final cash pay depends on factors including experience, qualifications, skills, work location, and projected impact. Total compensation may also include equity, discretionary annual or performance bonuses, sales incentives, and benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance and paid time off.

Requirements

At least 2 years of hands-on manufacturing engineering experience designing, building, and sustaining assembly lines for complex electro-mechanical products, with a track record of scaling volume by an order of magnitude.
A BS in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
Practical mastery of PFMEA, control plans, SPC, capability analysis (Cp/Cpk), first-article processes, and production validation.
Experience designing and validating custom fixtures, jigs, and tooling, with proficiency in 3D CAD.
Experience with MES/ERP and statistical tools such as Minitab, JMP, or Excel to measure and improve yield and process capability.
Demonstrated cross-functional DFM decisions balancing cost, manufacturability, safety, and field reliability.
End-to-end project ownership with minimal oversight, including planning, budgeting, procurement, commissioning, and sustaining production lines.
A hands-on manufacturing approach, careful attention to process details, clear communication of tradeoffs under schedule pressure, and commitment to safety and quality.
Accountability for ramp milestones and agreed yield, throughput, and cost targets, with a structured approach to preventing production escapes and meeting release criteria.

Nice To Haves

5–7 years of relevant experience preferred.
An advanced degree.
Proficiency with Siemens NX.

Responsibilities

Own assigned assembly lines and feeder subassemblies from process definition, tooling, and pilot builds through validation, release, and sustainment.
Design, procure, install, and commission fixtures, gauges, tooling, workstations, and ergonomic operator flows.
Define and validate assembly sequences, PFMEAs, control plans, SPC, capability studies, first-article processes, and release criteria.
Investigate production issues and escapes, validate root causes, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Improve first-pass yield, throughput, takt time, equipment reliability, downtime, and cost of poor quality against agreed targets.
Lead design-for-manufacturing decisions that balance assembly time, inspection, cost, safety, and field reliability.
Create SOPs, work instructions, and training materials; train and qualify technicians and line leads.
Coordinate capacity, layouts, equipment, and readiness with Design Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and Operations; deliver a validated pilot line and stabilize production.
Deliver a validated pilot line for the assigned electro-mechanical assembly, with documented process controls and demonstrated Cp/Cpk targets.
Achieve first-pass yield and throughput targets established at project start and reduce key PFMEA failure modes through validated process improvements.
Meet the established production-release window and stabilize yield and throughput through cross-functional execution and sustained corrective actions.