Mechanical Engineer, RF Systems

Zipline builds and operates autonomous delivery systems that depend on reliable communication, navigation, and surveillance links. The performance of an RF system is inseparable from its mechanical implementation: antenna position, orientation, ground plane, surrounding structures, radome materials, feed routing, connector interfaces, shielding, tolerances, water exposure, and structural deformation can determine whether a link works reliably in the field.

As a Mechanical Design Engineer for RF Systems, you will own the physical architecture and mechanical design of antenna and RF assemblies used across Zipline’s avionics systems. Your scope may include GNSS, cellular, Wi-Fi, command-and-control, ADS-B, and other current or future wireless systems.

You will work closely with RF, Electrical, EMC, Systems, Navigation, Flight Test, Manufacturing, and vehicle-structure teams. You are not expected to replace the RF electrical engineer; you are expected to understand RF behavior deeply enough to make mechanical decisions that preserve antenna and link performance from prototype through high-volume production and fleet deployment.

• Own end-to-end mechanical design for antenna and RF assemblies, including architecture, packaging, CAD, drawings, specifications, tolerance analysis, BOMs, and production release.

• Translate link-budget, antenna-pattern, polarization, isolation, desense, environmental, structural, and vehicle-level requirements into measurable mechanical constraints.

• Establish antenna placement, orientation, keep-out, ground-plane, separation, and installation requirements across vehicle structures and avionics assemblies.

• Design antenna mounts, radomes, housings, RF shields, feedline routing, connector interfaces, strain relief, grounding features, and serviceable module assemblies.

• Define mechanical shielding, seam, gasket, grounding, and bonding strategies that contain digital and power-system emissions while avoiding unintended antenna effects.

• Partner with RF and Test engineers on measurements including S-parameters, VSWR, insertion loss, antenna efficiency, gain, radiation pattern, polarization, isolation, desense, and environmental performance.

• Create fixtures and representative structures that allow chamber and bench measurements to reproduce the installed mechanical configuration.

• Perform structural, thermal, vibration, fatigue, and tolerance analyses to ensure RF assemblies remain physically stable and electrically repeatable throughout operating life.

• Define critical-to-quality dimensions and manufacturing controls for antenna position, orientation, ground contact, cable routing, connector engagement, radome geometry, and adhesive application.

• Work directly with antenna vendors, material suppliers, connector manufacturers, composite suppliers, and contract manufacturers to qualify parts and production processes.

• Lead investigations of RF field failures where mechanical configuration may be a contributing factor. Use telemetry, RF logs, inspection data, environmental history, and physical measurements to establish root cause.

• Maintain mechanical interface-control documents and installation requirements so antenna performance is preserved across vehicle configurations and future product generations.

• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, including structures, vibration, fatigue, thermal design, material selection, sealing, tolerance analysis, and environmental protection.

• Advanced CAD, GD&T, datum-strategy, drawing-release, and production-tolerance skills.

• Working knowledge of RF fundamentals, including antenna gain, radiation pattern, polarization, ground-plane effects, impedance, insertion loss, shielding, isolation, and link margin.

• Ability to reason about how antenna placement, radome properties, conductive structures, cable routing, grounding, and assembly variation affect RF performance.

• Experience designing with RF-transparent plastics, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, metals, composites, and conductive carbon-fiber structures.

• Experience integrating coaxial cables, RF connectors, controlled-impedance flexes, shielding, grounding, and strain relief into compact mechanical assemblies.

• Experience designing environmentally sealed hardware for vibration, shock, temperature cycling, moisture, contamination, and outdoor exposure.

• Experience building prototypes, test coupons, fixtures, and representative structures for mechanical and RF characterization.

• Track record of resolving difficult cross-disciplinary failures involving mechanical hardware, RF performance, electronics, manufacturing variation, or installation conditions.

• Experience working directly with suppliers and manufacturing teams to establish capable processes and improve yield, cost, and repeatability.

• This role is based in South San Francisco and requires regular hands-on work in the lab. Travel to suppliers, manufacturers, antenna ranges, chamber facilities, and flight-test locations will be required.

• Periodic off-hours support may be required during flight tests, certification campaigns, production ramps, or urgent field investigations.

Nice to Have 

• Experience with GNSS, cellular, Wi-Fi, command-and-control, ADS-B, UWB, or multi-radio platforms.

• Experience with aircraft, drones, robotics, automotive systems, or other mass- and volume-constrained wireless products.

• Experience with anechoic chambers, over-the-air testing, antenna ranges, vector network analyzers, or RF survey testing.

• Experience investigating GNSS desense or coexistence problems involving high-speed compute, cameras, motors, or switching power electronics.

• Experience developing radomes, conformal antennas, composite-integrated antennas, ceramic patches, FPC antennas, or directional antenna modules.

• Familiarity with EMC design, regulatory certification, EIRP constraints, or international radio configurations.

• Experience developing high-volume, connectorized antenna architectures that can be assembled and verified at end of line.

What Success Looks Like

• Antenna and RF assemblies meet link-margin, gain, pattern, polarization, isolation, and navigation-availability requirements in their installed configurations.

• RF performance remains repeatable across production variation, vehicle configurations, environmental exposure, and operating life.

• Mechanical design decisions measurably reduce GNSS desense, intermittent-link, connector, cable, radome, and installation-related failures.

• RF assemblies ramp to production while meeting agreed mass, cost, yield, assembly-time, and supplier-capability targets.

• Field and chamber data correlate well enough that mechanical changes can be evaluated quickly and product risks are identified before deployment.

• The resulting antenna architecture supports future radios, frequency bands, structures, and vehicle generations without extensive mechanical rework.

The starting cash range for this role is $135,000 - $225,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!