Senior Production Test Engineer

Zipline • South San Francisco, CA

9d • Onsite

About The Position

Zipline is seeking a Senior Production Test Engineer to own electrical, functional, and automated test systems for Zipline aircraft, dock, delivery pod, and subassembly hardware at scale. This role is critical for ensuring fleet uptime, field reliability, and customer deliveries in a safety-critical autonomous logistics system. The engineer will lead end-to-end test system delivery for high-throughput manufacturing environments, focusing on safety, traceability, and measurable improvements in yield and deployment time. The position requires working in a fast-scaling production environment with direct impact on aircraft reliability and delivery network performance.

Requirements

• 7+ years building production test systems, automated test equipment, or end-of-line testers for electro-mechanical or mechatronic products; demonstrated ownership of multiple shipped tester programs.
• BS in Electrical, Mechatronics, Mechanical, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Deep practical skills in instrumentation, signal measurement, power delivery, harnessing, connectorization, sensor/actuator interfaces, and PCBA debug with hands-on shop-floor experience.
• Strong test automation experience: Python preferred; experience with LabVIEW, TestStand, or embedded test frameworks and integrating DAQ, scopes, DMMs, power supplies, and electronic loads.
• Proficiency with embedded/product interfaces (CAN, UART, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, USB) and strategies for validating communications and firmware-hardware interactions.
• Track record of delivering measurable production improvements (first-pass yield, cycle time, false-fail reduction, tester utilization, GR&R) and owning metrics reporting.
• Experience working directly on manufacturing floors during launches and escalations; willing to spend significant onsite time supporting shifts, debugging, and qualifying equipment.
• Comfortable with frequent cross-functional coordination and leading 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.

Responsibilities

• Own design, delivery, and sustainment of production testers and calibration stations from requirements through build, installation, validation, and continuous improvement for aircraft, dock, pod, and subassembly builds.
• Define tester acceptance criteria: test coverage, pass/fail limits, golden-unit strategy, GR&R, capability targets, and production release criteria in partnership with Electrical Design, Firmware, Quality, and Operations.
• Architect and implement electrical and functional testers including harnessing, DAQ, sensors/actuators, power systems, safety interlocks, and mechanical fixtures to meet cycle-time and throughput targets.
• Implement test automation and data pipelines (Python, LabVIEW/TestStand or equivalent) to enable reproducible, high-throughput test flows, data logging, MES/MFG integration, and production dashboards.
• Drive measurable outcomes: increase first-pass yield, reduce false-fail rate, improve tester uptime/utilization, and shorten per-unit cycle time—set targets and report progress monthly.
• Troubleshoot and resolve production escalations on the floor: debug PCBA-level electrical failures, tester instability, fixture issues, SW bugs, and product/tester correlation failures under time pressure.
• Lead cross-functional launches: coordinate 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 documentation: test procedures, maintenance/calibration plans, validation records, and change-control artifacts required for production readiness and traceability.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree