Senior Production Test Engineer

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

2d•$125,000 - $170,000

About The Position

Zipline is seeking a Senior Production Test Engineer to own the electrical, functional, and automated test equipment used in the production and validation of Zipline products at scale. This role is centered on factory floor production test systems. The engineer will be responsible for the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of testers that verify electrical, electro-mechanical, and mechatronic assemblies. Projects may include functional test stands, end-of-line testers, electrical harness testers, sensor and actuator test systems, calibration stations, data acquisition systems, automated fixtures, and production test software. The role involves close collaboration with Manufacturing Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Software, Quality, Technicians, and Operations to create test systems that are reliable, fast, user-friendly, and scalable for high-volume production. The engineer will manage projects from initial requirements through architecture, electrical and fixture design, software development, vendor management, debugging, validation, production release, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

7+ years of experience developing production test systems, automated test equipment, functional testers, or electrical test platforms.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
Strong electrical and systems fundamentals, including instrumentation, signal integrity basics, power systems, sensors, actuators, harnessing, and PCBA-level debug.
Experience designing and deploying testers for electro-mechanical or mechatronic products in a production environment.
Strong software skills for test automation; Python preferred, with experience in tools such as LabVIEW, TestStand, C/C++, or similar a plus.
Experience with common communication interfaces such as CAN, UART, Ethernet, USB, I2C, SPI, or other embedded/product interfaces.
Familiarity with DAQ hardware, oscilloscopes, DMMs, power supplies, electronic loads, relays, motion control, pneumatics, and safety systems.
Experience supporting high-volume or highly automated manufacturing environments, ideally with a focus on uptime, throughput, and repeatability.
Understanding of production test metrics such as first-pass yield, false fail rate, tester utilization, cycle time, GR&R, and test coverage.
Ability to root-cause complex issues across product hardware, test software, electrical interfaces, fixtures, and manufacturing process variables.
Experience working cross-functionally with electrical, software, manufacturing, quality, operations, technicians, and external vendors.
Strong documentation and communication skills, with the ability to make test results, tradeoffs, and risks clear to technical and non-technical teams.
High ownership, strong judgment, and willingness to spend significant time on the manufacturing floor solving problems.

Responsibilities

Own production test equipment for aircraft, dock, delivery pod, and subassembly builds, from concept through production sustainment.
Design and deploy electrical testers, functional testers, automated test equipment, calibration stations, and end-of-line test systems.
Develop tester requirements, test coverage, pass/fail limits, instrumentation strategies, and validation plans in partnership with design and quality teams.
Build or specify test hardware, including electrical interfaces, harnessing, DAQ systems, sensors, actuators, power supplies, safety circuits, and mechanical fixtures.
Develop production test software and automation scripts for reliable, repeatable, and high-throughput testing.
Integrate testers with factory systems where needed, including data logging, traceability, MES workflows, and production dashboards.
Improve test yield, cycle time, uptime, false-fail rates, debug efficiency, and operator usability.
Troubleshoot production issues directly on the floor, including electrical failures, tester instability, software bugs, fixture issues, and product/tester correlation gaps.
Drive test system validation, including GR&R, correlation studies, golden-unit strategies, capability studies, and production readiness.
Work with vendors and internal teams to fabricate, assemble, debug, install, and qualify production test equipment.
Create documentation for test procedures, equipment operation, maintenance, calibration, troubleshooting, and change control.
Identify opportunities for automation, standardization, and scalable tester architectures across production lines.