Sr. Manager, Powertrain Test Engineering

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Zipline's electric powertrain system defines the performance of our delivery system, having direct impact on our wind and temperature performance, the maximum payload, and the total energy available. As the leader for Powertrain Test Engineering, you will be responsible for the deep characterization of powertrain components including performance, efficiency, and model validation. Your team is also responsible for durability testing for fatigue, wear-out, and performance in the range of loads and forces experienced in flight. Zipline's hardware components are optimized to the maximum possible, given extreme mass considerations and extreme temperature conditions driving bespoke materials, coating, structural design, and electromagnetic. Your role is extremely high autonomy and decision-making, and will work closely as part of design engineering cycles. The team is often the first to find major hardware capabilities and issues, therefore you are often on the front-line for complex problem solving.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in hardware test engineering, reliability engineering, or propulsion/powertrain development, including 2+ years in a people management or technical leadership role.
Deep hands-on experience testing electric motors (BLDC preferred) and/or propellers. You understand thrust, torque, power, and efficiency trade-offs and how to instrument for them.
Strong understanding of motor thermal modeling and test correlation.
Strong understanding of motor electromagnetics, including factors affecting flux linkage, characterization of different motor losses, and how these properties are measured or inferred from test data.
Experience testing actuators or servo motors, including position/rate control performance, endurance, and failure-mode characterization.
Strong grounding in reliability engineering methods: FMEA, life/Weibull analysis, accelerated life testing, and translating field/flight data into test requirements.
Demonstrated experience designing or specifying large, complex test equipment, including dynamometers, thrust stands, wind-generation systems, environmental chambers, or similar aerodynamic/mechanical test rigs.
Working knowledge of aerodynamics and propeller theory sufficient to design representative test conditions and interpret results.
Strong data instrumentation and analysis skills (DAQ systems, sensor selection, signal conditioning, statistical analysis of test data).
Proficiency in Python or equivalent for scripting and data analysis.
Experience managing cross-functional test programs in fast-moving hardware programs.
A bias toward hands-on problem solving; comfortable in the lab and on the test floor, not just in review meetings.
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, or a related field (advanced degree a plus).

Nice To Haves

advanced degree a plus

Responsibilities

Hire, lead, and grow a team of specialist test engineers and technicians responsible for motor and actuator performance, propeller performance, and component qualification and life testing.
Develop and drive multi-month test campaigns for BLDC motor performance (torque/speed curves, efficiency mapping, back-EMF and cogging torque characterization) across the full flight envelope, including edge-of-envelope and failure-mode conditions.
Own test methods for motor electromagnetic performance: flux linkage, inductance, torque ripple, iron and copper losses, switching losses, hysteresis, demagnetization risk, and EMI/EMC behavior, partnering with Electrical and Controls Engineering to validate motor models against thrust testing and dynamometer data.
Develop and validate thermal models against instrumented test data; design thermal test setups to characterize heat generation, dissipation paths, and thermal limits, and use results to close the loop with Design Engineering on cooling strategy and derating curves.
Own propeller test programs including propeller performance (thrust, power, efficiency, acoustic signature) and structural durability, including fatigue and damage-tolerance testing under representative and oscillatory loading.
Own actuator and servo motor test programs for motors used in flight-critical control surfaces and mechanisms, including position and rate accuracy, cogging torque, backlash, and bandwidth.
Apply reliability concepts to drive rapid fault identification and design opportunities, including accelerated life testing and destructive testing.
Drive failure analysis testing for field hardware and test failures.
Partner with (or lead directly) equipment design engineering teams to develop large-scale custom test equipment used in powertrain testing, including thrust testing, wind tunnels, and dynamometers.
Develop inputs for vehicle-level diagnostics to generate early warning systems for the commercial fleet, including novel algorithms to detect structural damage, wear-out, and powertrain degradation.
Push the team to greatness through first-principles analysis, excellent technical judgment, deep understanding of how components are used, and fast execution with an emphasis on getting unblocked.