Mechanical Engineer, Production Test

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

7d•$125,000 - $145,000•Onsite

About The Position

Zipline is hiring a Mechanical Engineer, Production Test to own the mechanical fixtures and test interfaces that enable repeatable production testing of aircraft, docks, delivery pods, and subassembly hardware. The role designs how products are located, loaded, supported, and connected to production testers and calibration stations, integrating sensors, actuators, instrumentation, and safety interfaces in partnership with electrical and software teams. The fixtures must be repeatable, maintainable, safe, and practical to operate at production rates. This hands-on individual-contributor position owns the mechanical contribution to end-to-end test-system delivery for high-throughput manufacturing and rapid product iterations. The work directly affects fleet uptime, field reliability, customer deliveries, production yield, and test deployment time. The role is based onsite-first at Zipline’s Coop manufacturing site in South San Francisco, with regular factory-floor presence and possible travel to other Zipline sites or vendors for launches and validations. Success in the first year includes delivering and validating production tester programs with documented acceptance criteria and production-release evidence; improving false-failure rates, first-pass yield, cycle time, and tester uptime; and sustaining traceable, repeatable test execution while reporting progress against agreed production goals.

Requirements

At least 2 years building production test systems, automated test equipment, or end-of-line testers for electromechanical or mechatronic products, with demonstrated ownership of multiple shipped tester programs.
BS in Electrical, Mechatronics, Mechanical, or Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
Practical skills in instrumentation, signal measurement, power delivery, harnessing, connectorization, sensor/actuator interfaces, and PCBA debugging, with hands-on shop-floor experience.
Strong test-automation experience; Python is preferred. Experience with LabVIEW, TestStand, or embedded test frameworks and integrating DAQ, oscilloscopes, DMMs, power supplies, and electronic loads.
Proficiency with embedded/product interfaces including CAN, UART, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, and USB, and strategies for validating communications and firmware-hardware interactions.
Track record of delivering measurable production improvements in first-pass yield, cycle time, false-fail reduction, tester utilization, or GR&R, and owning metrics reporting.
Experience working directly on manufacturing floors during launches and escalations; willingness to spend significant onsite time supporting shifts, debugging, and qualifying equipment.
Comfort with frequent cross-functional coordination and coordinating vendor builds, FAT/SAT, and production qualification activities.
Rigorous attention to safety and traceability, decisive technical judgment under production pressure, practical hands-on test/debug capability, and insistence on measurable outcomes.
Able to travel to other Zipline sites or vendor locations as required for launches and validations.

Nice To Haves

5–7 years of relevant experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Design production test fixture mechanics for repeatable product locating, loading, handling, and connection, with attention to safe operation and maintainability.
Integrate instrumentation, sensors, actuators, harnessing, and safety interlocks into mechanical fixtures with electrical and software partners; validate fixture correlation and repeatability.
Own mechanical design, delivery, and sustainment for production testers and calibration stations from requirements through internal or vendor build, installation, validation, and continuous improvement for aircraft, dock, pod, and subassembly builds.
Partner on tester acceptance criteria and validate fixture contributions to test coverage, pass/fail limits, golden-unit strategy, GR&R, capability targets, and production release criteria with Electrical Design, Firmware, Quality, and Operations.
Collaborate with electrical and software engineers to integrate electrical and functional testers—including harnessing, DAQ, sensors/actuators, power systems, safety interlocks, and mechanical fixtures—to meet cycle-time and throughput targets.
Partner on test automation and data pipelines using Python, LabVIEW/TestStand, or equivalent; validate fixture interactions to enable reproducible, high-throughput test flows, data logging, MES/MFG integration, and production dashboards.
Set targets and report monthly progress toward increasing first-pass yield, reducing false-fail rates, improving tester uptime and utilization, and shortening per-unit cycle time.
Troubleshoot and resolve production-floor escalations involving fixture issues, tester instability, and product/tester correlation failures; partner with electrical and software engineers on PCBA-level failures and software bugs under time pressure.
Support cross-functional launches by coordinating requirements, validation plans, training, calibration schedules, spares strategy, and change control with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Technicians, Operations, and external vendors.
Identify and deploy scalable tester architectures and automation that reduce operator steps, minimize touch time, and standardize interfaces across lines.
Produce and maintain test procedures, maintenance and calibration plans, validation records, and change-control artifacts required for production readiness and traceability.
Coordinate vendor builds, FAT/SAT, and production qualification activities.