Material Flow Engineer

Zipline • South San Francisco, CA

7d • $104,000 - $180,000 • Onsite

About The Position

As a Material Flow Engineer on Zipline’s Manufacturing Engineering team, you will design factory layouts, work methods, and capacity models that enable reliable production scaling. You will connect demand, labor, equipment, space, and capital investment using time studies, standard work, line balancing, and production-system design. Working directly on the factory floor, you will use observations and production data to improve station loading, operator movement, layouts, and manufacturing capacity. Your work will help determine production capacity, identify constraints, and evaluate investments in people, equipment, automation, or space. The role is based in South San Francisco; its specific focus will reflect the candidate’s strengths and the team’s needs.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations Research, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.
• At least 3 years of experience in industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, operations engineering, production systems, or a comparable environment.
• Experience with time studies, labor and capacity models, line balancing, takt time, standard work, factory layouts, and material flow.
• Record of identifying manufacturing constraints and improving throughput, productivity, utilization, lead time, or cost.
• Strong spreadsheet and analytical skills, including work with ERP, MES, labor-tracking, and production data.
• Ability to build operational and financial models for capital investment, automation, make-versus-buy, and factory scaling.
• Hands-on approach, clear communication, and ownership of improvements from ambiguous problems through implementation.

Nice To Haves

• 5–7 years of relevant experience.
• Experience scaling complex electromechanical products, expanding factories, or launching new production lines.
• Familiarity with simulation, optimization, SQL, Python, BI tools, manufacturing dashboards, or ERP/MES platforms.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, Theory of Constraints, PFMEA, value-stream mapping, or automation business cases.

Responsibilities

• Improve factory layouts, workstations, operator movement, and material presentation.
• Define work-in-process (WIP), buffer, queue, and rework strategies that protect output while reducing inventory and lead time.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Production, Supply Chain, and Material Planning on line architecture, lineside availability, and replenishment.
• Lead time studies, define standard work and labor models, and balance station loading against takt time.
• Build capacity and capital-investment scenarios for labor, equipment, tooling, shifts, floor space, and future demand.
• Identify current and future bottlenecks and implement improvements in throughput, utilization, cycle time, labor efficiency, and cost.
• Own factory performance and production-system design, connecting individual processes into an efficient end-to-end system.
• Develop factory KPIs, decision tools, make-versus-buy analyses, and investment cases, and carry improvements through implementation.

Benefits

• Equity compensation may be included in the total compensation package.
• Discretionary annual or performance bonuses may be included in the total compensation package.
• Sales incentives may be included in the total compensation package.
• Medical insurance.
• Dental insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• Paid time off.

What This Job Offers

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