Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products.
Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.
Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe.
We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds.
You will be the Senior Integration & Test Software Engineer (Long Range Platform) owning software-driven test systems that validate our long-range delivery drones across engineering, manufacturing, and fleet operations. Zipline’s mission to deliver critical goods at scale depends on test systems that catch failures before flight and enable rapid, reliable product iterations. You will operate at the intersection of embedded flight code, factory automation, and field operations: designing, deploying, and sustaining turnkey SIL/HIL/EOLT test rigs and automation that directly affect throughput, defect rates, and fleet reliability in production and operational deployments.
What You'll Do- Own end-to-end delivery of test systems (SIL, HIL, EOLT, bench rigs) from prototype through production deployment and field sustainment. You are the technical owner accountable for schedules, acceptance criteria, and production readiness.
- Ship measurable improvements: define and meet targets such as test coverage %, mean time to detect (MTTD) critical failures, reduction in test cycle time (targeted improvements set in first 90 days), and defect escape rate reductions tied to your systems.
- Architect, implement, and maintain software that runs and orchestrates test sequences, data capture, analysis, and reporting. Build automation and dashboards used by manufacturing engineers and test operators.
- Integrate software with hardware under test: board bring-up, sensor calibration, motion systems, power systems, and DAQ instruments. Validate against datasheets and representative hardware in lab and factory settings.
- Lead investigations and root-cause analysis for failures discovered in test or production, produce corrective plans, and drive fixes to closure with engineering and operations stakeholders.
- Define and enforce test standards, pass/fail criteria, and validation protocols used across products and production lines. Own CI/validation pipelines that gate changes to flight or manufacturing systems.
- Work cross-functionally with embedded firmware, hardware, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and field ops to deploy test systems at scale; coordinate vendor hardware and field installation when required.
- Support on-call and production escalation cadence for systems you own (expect regular production-support rotations and periodic urgent in-factory or field troubleshooting). Travel to manufacturing or distribution sites as required (typical travel up to 20% first year; may spike during launches or product transitions).
- Title/seniority: Senior engineering ownership; proven history owning cross-disciplinary test or integration programs end-to-end.
- Must-have technical skills: 5+ years building integration/test software that interfaces with hardware; strong Python and C/C++ skills; Linux system administration; experience with CI, Git, and test automation frameworks.
- Embedded and hardware experience: hands-on with embedded systems, board bring-up, instrumentation (oscilloscopes, DAQ, power analyzers), and interpreting datasheets. Experience with HIL/SIL/EOL test architectures required.
- Production & safety context: demonstrated experience building automation used in factory or safety-critical environments and delivering to production schedules and quality targets.
- Measurable delivery record: examples of shipped systems with quantified impact (throughput, yield, defect reduction, reliability improvements) and first-6-to-12-month outcomes you drove.
- Operating expectations: comfortable with high-impact deadlines, on-call rotations, and occasional site travel to support installations or production ramps. This is primarily onsite in South San Francisco; you must be able to work from the office regularly.
- Authority & collaboration: able to drive cross-functional technical decisions, write clear acceptance criteria, and escalate to program leads when necessary.
- Work authorization: Zipline can sponsor visas; candidates should discuss needs during process.
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!
Skills Required
- 5+ years building integration/test software that interfaces with hardware
- Strong Python and C/C++ skills
- Linux system administration
- Experience with CI, Git, and test automation frameworks
- Hands-on embedded systems experience and board bring-up
- Experience with HIL, SIL, and EOLT/EOL test architectures
- Instrumentation experience (oscilloscopes, DAQ, power analyzers) and interpreting datasheets
- Experience building automation for factory or safety-critical production environments
- Proven history owning cross-disciplinary test or integration programs end-to-end and delivering measurable impact
- Comfortable with on-call rotations, production support, and travel (~20%)
- Ability to work onsite regularly in South San Francisco
What We Do
Zipline is the world's largest autonomous delivery network and is powered entirely by fixed-wing drones. Our fleet circles the equivalent distance of the equator every 2.5 days, and we have shipped hundreds of thousands of critical medical products across Rwanda, Ghana, and now beginning in the United States.
Why Work With Us
Zipline is the perfect intersection of super cutting-edge tech, deep social mission, and extremely compelling business case. Our small, scrappy, customer-obsessed, humble, and mission-driven team has set the bar for what is possible in the drone logistics industry globally, and has designed some incredibly elegant technology in the process.
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