Mechanical Design Engineer, Structures & Mechanisms

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

1d•$125,000 - $240,000

About The Position

Zipline is seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer for its Platform 2 Aircraft Structures & Mechanisms team. The role owns flight hardware that affects flight safety, fleet reliability, manufacturability, and the pace of service expansion. The engineer is the primary owner of structural and mechanism components through the full hardware lifecycle, from concept and design through analysis, testing, building, scaling, and field maintenance. This hands-on individual-contributor position covers both specific hardware and its integration into the broader aircraft system. The engineer works closely with production, operations, test, and cross-functional partners to challenge requirements, make sound system-level trade-offs, and deliver hardware that performs effectively throughout its lifecycle.

Requirements

Proven ownership of high-performance or low-margin mechanical or electromechanical hardware validation through development, qualification, production ramp, and field deployment.
First-principles engineering approach and a test-first mindset.
Experience planning and executing environmental, vibration, fatigue, and thermal verification; ability to design test fixtures and interpret data.
Deep hands-on experience designing carbon composite structures, injection-moulded plastics, metallic structures, and/or servo-actuated mechanisms.
Strong mechanical fundamentals and experience working with suppliers to develop hardware and processes.
Demonstrated supplier and DFM experience, with a track record of reducing NPI cycles, scrap, or supplier defects.
Clear written and verbal technical communication skills, including presenting trade-offs and accepting or rejecting risk decisions with stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end delivery of structural or mechanical subsystems, from requirements and design through build, test, release, production, and operations sustainment.
Develop and defend system-level trade studies, tolerance stacks, load paths, failure modes, and hand calculations or analyses that address safety-critical loads and manufacturability.
Create CAD assemblies, detailed drawings, GD&T, and manufacturing documentation for complex assemblies; own design reviews, DFM, and first-article criteria.
Lead supplier selection, qualification, and handoff; drive DFM feedback, define inspection criteria, reduce supplier NPI cycle time and scrap rates, and address supplier issues that risk field operations.
Partner with Systems, Software, Production, Integration & Test, Reliability, and Field Ops to align requirements, manage trade-offs, and remove deployment blockers.
Translate prototypes into designs that meet cost, cycle-time, and inspection-rate targets for medium-volume production.
Own manufacturability and in-field reliability metrics and drive them toward target.