Mechatronics Engineer, Production Equipment

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

2h•$105,000 - $160,000•Onsite

About The Position

Zipline’s Manufacturing Engineering team develops production systems that turn autonomous delivery aircraft and their subsystems into reliable, repeatable products at scale. Based at Coop, Zipline’s South San Francisco manufacturing site, the Mechatronics Engineer integrates mechanisms, electrical interfaces, sensors, actuators, pneumatics, and controls into production equipment for aircraft, battery packs, docks, and flight-critical subsystems. The role focuses on integrating equipment disciplines from requirements and build through debugging, acceptance, and safe factory-floor commissioning. This is a hands-on individual-contributor role with direct ownership of equipment design, build, commissioning, and improvement. The work affects production throughput, first-pass yield, assembly cycle time, and maintenance uptime for lines supplying field operations and active delivery fleets, with implications for fleet readiness and safety-critical performance. The role is site-based at Zipline’s South San Francisco manufacturing site, with regular on-site presence during standard manufacturing shifts, occasional off-hours commissioning, and up to 15% travel to vendor or field sites. The starting cash range is $105,000–$160,000. Total compensation may also include equity, discretionary annual or performance bonuses, sales incentives, and benefits.

Requirements

At least 2 years designing production equipment, fixtures, or custom automation in a high-volume or fast-ramping manufacturing environment.
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
Demonstrated mastery of GD&T, tolerance analysis, mechanism design, material selection, and failure-mode thinking for assembly tooling.
Proficiency in 3D CAD; Siemens NX is preferred, with SolidWorks or Creo experience acceptable when accompanied by strong intent to learn NX.
Hands-on factory-floor equipment commissioning experience, including fabrication support, build, debugging, testing, and operator training.
Comfort spending most of the work week on-site.
Practical knowledge of pneumatics, actuators, sensors, linear motion, machine guarding, and industrial electrical interfaces used in tooling and small automation.
Track record of delivering quantitative outcomes in cycle time, uptime, first-pass yield, or cost per unit, and making trade-offs among throughput, reliability, and maintainability.
Ability to coordinate vendor builds and conduct acceptance testing against technical drawings and QA criteria.
Availability for regular on-site work during standard manufacturing shifts, occasional off-hours commissioning, and up to 15% travel to vendor or field sites.
High ownership of safety and reliability; decisive technical judgment under schedule pressure; comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration; and willingness to escalate and resolve issues affecting fleet readiness.

Nice To Haves

5–7 years of relevant experience preferred.
Experience with aerospace, drones, medical devices, or safety-critical electro-mechanical products is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Integrate mechanical motion, pneumatics, sensors, actuators, industrial electrical interfaces, and safety interfaces into production tooling and small automation.
Debug interactions between mechanisms, sensing, actuation, and controls; verify integrated equipment behavior during vendor acceptance and factory commissioning.
Own end-to-end integration and delivery of production equipment and tooling projects, including requirements, CAD using Siemens NX, detailed drawings, vendor fabrication oversight, build, commissioning, and production release.
Improve tooling availability, manual assembly cycle time, and first-pass yield against stated targets.
Design and install alignment fixtures, press and torque tooling, ergonomic operator stations, poka-yoke devices, handling and transport fixtures, and automated end-of-line test rigs for aircraft, battery packs, and docks.
Perform on-line debugging and rapid root-cause analysis during launches and ramp phases, including occasional weekend or evening commissioning during critical releases.
Develop and apply tooling design standards, GD&T practices, tolerance stacks, and material and process selections that meet safety and maintainability requirements.
Coordinate with Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Test Engineering, and Field Operations to align tooling scope, test requirements, and production schedules.
Work with fabricators and vendors by writing technical RFQs, evaluating proposals, verifying vendor QC, and conducting acceptance testing during build and after installation.
Support equipment fabrication, build, debugging, testing, commissioning, and operator training on the factory floor.