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.
As a Senior Software Engineer - Hardware Test at Zipline you will have the unique opportunity to develop and deploy high quality software that will power our automated testers for our next-generation of P2 hardware. By developing these tests you will gain a deep understanding of our avionics stack, flight and embedded code, and vehicle-sensors. You will own these test systems from early prototype design all the way to field/production root-cause, driving schedules and deliverables, interfacing with vendors and bridging cross-functional teams with a reliability and safety focus. Most importantly, your work will directly contribute to the design of future vehicles and verification of our next-generation aircraft. You are the last line of defense with our production testers before our vehicles are shipped all over the world to perform vital, life-saving deliveries.
What You'll Do- Architect, develop, and deploy test software and test assets that will be used to validate components from avionics boards, sensors, instrumentation, and mechanism assemblies.
- Develop automation-centric software scripts to streamline design and production testing.
- Develop a deep understanding of components under test becoming a subject matter expert in the component’s behavior under a range of environmental, performance, and system conditions.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams and external vendors to deploy high quality test systems in a timely manner to support vehicle-builds.
- Drive end-to-end test campaigns from development through design validation, certification, and production automation (often working all facets simultaneously).
- Triage and root-cause field failures, using data analysis, test heritage, correlation to operating conditions, and one-off test campaigns.
- Develop automation software scripts and visualization tools to streamline design and production testing.
- 5+ years of programming experience in Python for high volume production applications (manufacturing/EOL software development experience). Some knowledge of embedded C and ability to understand Rust is desired.
- Experience with object oriented programming.
- Experience building automation systems for use in safety-critical and factory applications.
- Experience working with Git / CI and the software development and validation process.
- Experience developing software that interfaces directly with hardware including navigating datasheets and validating hands-on with representative hardware.
- Experience developing test plans, test requirements, and test criteria for hardware products.
- Experience using and deep understanding of common test instrumentation and data acquisition hardware.
- Experience solving complex multidisciplinary problems with little supervision on schedule as an individual or as a member of an integrated team.
- Must be authorized to work in the US.
• Note: this is an onsite role at our South San Francisco office with potential for some travel opportunities.
What Else You Need To KnowZipline 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 programming experience in Python for high-volume production applications (manufacturing/EOL)
- Some knowledge of embedded C and ability to understand Rust
- Experience with object oriented programming
- Experience building automation systems for safety-critical and factory applications
- Experience working with Git / CI and software development and validation processes
- Experience developing software that interfaces directly with hardware, reading datasheets and hands-on validating with representative hardware
- Experience developing test plans, test requirements, and test criteria for hardware products
- Experience using and deep understanding of common test instrumentation and data acquisition hardware
- Ability to solve complex multidisciplinary problems with little supervision
- Authorized to work in the US
- Onsite work at South San Francisco office
Zipline Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Zipline and has not been reviewed or approved by Zipline.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is consistently described as comprehensive and high quality, with multiple plan choices, low out‑of‑pocket costs, and additions like HRA, One Medical, and fertility support.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental and family leave is highlighted as generous and meaningfully used, reinforcing support for major life events.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off, sick days, and holidays are portrayed as solid and broadly available, contributing to overall benefits depth.
Zipline Insights
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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