Technical Program Manager- Droid (Structures & Mechanisms)

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

2d•$140,000 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service, aiming to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to essential goods. They design, build, and operate an autonomous logistics system, making deliveries globally. The droid, a critical component, is the delivery container that detaches from the aircraft. It must be aesthetically pleasing, cost-effective, quiet, weatherproof, thermally stable, and highly reliable for tens of thousands of flight cycles. The company is developing EV3, the next generation of the droid, which involves defining architecture, designing and prototyping subsystems, qualifying a global supply chain, building test infrastructure, and scaling production. The Technical Program Manager will be responsible for the schedule, coordination, and execution rigor to achieve these goals. This role is at the intersection of product definition, systems engineering, and execution, requiring collaboration across mechanical, electrical, firmware, thermal, industrial design, test, and manufacturing engineering. The ideal candidate enjoys working closely with hardware, engineers, technicians, and operations teams to bring complex electromechanical systems to life, taking ownership of outcomes and proactively identifying and resolving issues.

Requirements

2+ years of experience in technical program management or in a hardware engineering, systems engineering, manufacturing, or technical operations role involving complex hardware systems
Experience working on complex electromechanical hardware systems in fields such as drones, robotics, aerospace, automotive, medical device, or consumer electronics
Strong systems thinking and the ability to dive into unfamiliar technical domains to understand tradeoffs, guide decisions, and unblock teams
A highly execution-oriented mindset - you take ownership of outcomes, follow through relentlessly, and ensure important details don't fall through the cracks
Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional engineering teams and drive complex technical programs forward in fast-paced and ambiguous environments
Experience improving team effectiveness through documentation, decision tracking, or process improvements that reduce friction for engineering teams
Strong facilitation and communication skills, with the ability to guide technical discussions and align teams with different perspectives
A collaborative and relationship-driven approach to problem solving, with the ability to build trust across engineering, operations, suppliers, and external partners
Enthusiasm for working closely with engineers, technicians, and manufacturing teams, and being actively involved in bringing complex hardware systems to life
Must be eligible to work in the US
Must be able to work in person at Zipline's South San Francisco office

Nice To Haves

Prior experience carrying a complex hardware program through NPI and into full-rate production at a contract manufacturer
Familiarity with production technologies used on the droid: injection molding, thermoplastic and thermoset composites, EPP foam molding, stamping, CNC machining, and custom PCB and flex production
Experience managing schedules across multiple international suppliers and time zones
Prior technical background (BS or MS in a relevant engineering discipline) sufficient to read a drawing, understand a schematic, and hold your own in a technical review

Responsibilities

Drive the EV3 droid program from architecture through prototypes, qualification, and full-rate production, aligning a small, deeply cross-disciplinary hardware team around clear priorities and execution plans
Own the master schedule for the droid: identify the critical path, negotiate credible timelines with engineering leads, and communicate risk honestly and early
Work across mechanical, electrical, firmware, thermal, industrial design, test, and manufacturing domains to guide system-level decisions and ensure designs translate successfully into real-world builds
Coordinate prototype builds, first-article inspections, tooling releases, and production ramps, ensuring engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing are prepared to execute and capturing lessons learned to improve future programs
Identify and resolve technical, operational, and organizational bottlenecks that slow the team down, proactively addressing the areas where progress is most at risk
Facilitate technical discussions, design reviews, and trade studies that help engineering teams converge on effective solutions and clear decisions
Partner closely with our suppliers and manufacturing partners across China, Malaysia, Japan, Italy, Germany, Vietnam, and the US to ensure droid designs translate into reliable, repeatable production
Develop lightweight tools, documentation, and operational processes (decision logs, build playbooks, change-control workflows) that help engineering teams move faster and operate with clarity
Create dashboards to identify failure modes, identify outlying hardware and learn more about what works and what doesn’t in the field
Drive clear communication of program status, risks, and decisions across engineering, operations, and leadership stakeholders
Work closely with our test engineers on the development and use of ground test equipment, both our standard test assets (thermal chambers, FvD machines, etc.) and custom-designed hardware (cyclic testers, system level testers, etc.)