Test Equipment Design Engineer

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Zipline builds autonomous delivery aircraft and ground systems that operate daily in varied field conditions. Reliable products begin with reliable validation. As an Electromechanical Test Equipment Design Engineer, you will own the design and development of the test systems that enable engineers to characterize, validate, qualify, and manufacture battery and power electronics hardware with confidence. The Battery & Power Electronics team is responsible for delivering power throughout the aircraft—including batteries, power distribution systems, busbars, and power connectors. You will develop custom test equipment integrating mechanical design, electrical hardware, instrumentation, controls, automation, and software to create robust, scalable systems that accelerate product development and generate accurate, repeatable engineering data. This role is open to engineers at all levels. Responsibilities and scope will scale with experience—from owning individual fixtures and subsystems to leading the architecture and strategy for complex validation infrastructure spanning multiple aircraft programs.

Requirements

Experience designing mechanical systems, structural equipment, automated machinery, manufacturing equipment, or engineering test equipment appropriate to your career level.
Strong mechanical design skills using NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent CAD software.
Strong engineering fundamentals including machine design, structural analysis, GD&T, tolerance analysis, hand calculations, bolted joints, fatigue, material selection, and design for manufacturing.
Experience performing structural analysis using hand calculations and FEA.
Familiarity with hydraulic, pneumatic, servo-electric, or other high-force actuation systems.
Experience designing welded structures, machined assemblies, and fabricated equipment.
Hands-on experience assembling, commissioning, troubleshooting, and improving mechanical equipment.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams and communicate technical tradeoffs effectively.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting crash, impact, abuse, structural, environmental, or durability testing is preferred.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end development of crash safety equipment from requirements → concept → design → fabrication → commissioning → validation → continuous improvement.
Design and develop custom mechanical test equipment supporting impact, crush, penetration, drop, abuse, fire, vibration, and structural testing of batteries and aircraft hardware.
Design structural frames, fixtures, reaction structures, containment systems, mounting interfaces, and mechanisms capable of safely supporting high-energy testing.
Develop systems utilizing hydraulic, pneumatic, servo-electric, and mechanical actuation to apply controlled static and dynamic loading.
Perform engineering analyses including hand calculations, tolerance stacks, bolted joint design, load path analysis, FEA, fatigue assessments, and failure mode evaluations to ensure equipment performance and operator safety.
Produce CAD assemblies, detailed drawings, GD&T, bills of materials, and manufacturing documentation for fabricated and machined assemblies.
Design equipment with operator safety as a primary requirement, incorporating guarding, interlocks, energy isolation, debris containment, fire mitigation, and ergonomic considerations.
Partner with electrical, controls, and software engineers to integrate instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition, and automation into mechanical test systems.
Build, commission, troubleshoot, validate, and continuously improve laboratory equipment to maximize safety, repeatability, throughput, and maintainability.
Support crash safety, abuse, and structural validation campaigns by rapidly developing new test capability and modifying existing equipment.
Work closely with Mechanical Design, Reliability, Systems Engineering, Manufacturing, Integration & Test, and Safety teams to translate validation requirements into practical engineering solutions.
Lead supplier engagement for fabricated equipment, machined components, welded structures, hydraulic systems, and custom mechanical assemblies.