Staff Firmware Engineer - Motors

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

4d•$210,000 - $250,000•Onsite

About The Position

Zipline is seeking a Staff Firmware Engineer to develop and ship high-performance motor controller firmware for its proprietary motor controllers. The role works closely with electrical engineers, structures and mechanisms designers, flight software developers, vehicle controls engineers, and test-site operations teams. Firmware is developed primarily in C++, with Rust and Python used for tooling and production systems. The team validates features and regressions using hardware- and software-in-the-loop infrastructure, flight testing, data analysis, and simulations. The engineer will design estimators and controllers for propulsion motors and actuators, implement them on bare-metal ARM microcontrollers, develop peripheral drivers, validate firmware on benches and in flight, and contribute to the reliability of the wider flight software system. The role also includes developing Rust vehicle simulations, collaborating on inverter design bring-up, and maintaining fleet monitoring systems that help guide maintenance activity. The position must be performed on-site in South San Francisco, California.

Requirements

Fluency in C/C++, and enthusiasm for writing code in Rust and Python.
Mastery of nonlinear estimation techniques and classical control theory.
Eagerness to learn in a fast-paced, safety-critical environment.
Some experience with mechatronic control systems; hobby projects or professional experience are applicable.
Curiosity and willingness to work across embedded environments, including bare metal, RTOS, and embedded Linux.
Experience supporting real-world robotic systems, including addressing edge cases and rare events to ensure safety, reliability, and performance.
A systems-engineering mindset and ability to find efficient solutions beyond one's core competencies.
Strong executive communication skills for communicating work to stakeholders outside the technical domain.
Ability to work on-site in South San Francisco, California.

Nice To Haves

A background in electronics design.

Responsibilities

Design estimators and controllers for propulsion motors and actuators in collaboration with the vehicle controls team.
Implement controllers in C++ for bare-metal ARM microcontrollers.
Write peripheral drivers for new revisions of Zipline motor controller hardware.
Validate firmware on the bench and in flight tests.
Improve flight software system reliability by developing fault management strategies and hardware-in-the-loop tests with hardware and systems engineers.
Build vehicle simulations in Rust to validate and regression-test firmware.
Collaborate with electrical engineers to bring up and validate new inverter designs.
Build and maintain automated systems to monitor fleet performance and direct maintenance activity.