Lead, Avionics Technician

As Lead of Avionics Technicians at Zipline, you will build and lead the technician team responsible for prototype assembly, rework, integration, testing, and troubleshooting of avionics hardware. You will hire and develop technicians, plan team capacity, establish technical standards, and ensure engineering programs receive high-quality hardware on schedule. This is a hands-on people-management role where you will remain close to the work to resolve difficult technical problems and improve processes.

Responsibilities

• Build, manage, and develop a high-performing team of avionics technicians.
• Hire technicians with the right mix of electronics assembly, rework, integration, test, and troubleshooting skills.
• Set clear responsibilities, priorities, performance expectations, and development plans for each team member.
• Plan technician staffing and capacity across prototype builds, engineering tests, qualification campaigns, failure investigations, and production support.
• Own daily execution and ensure work is completed safely, correctly, and on schedule.
• Establish standards for soldering, crimping, harness assembly, inspection, ESD controls, test execution, documentation, and configuration control.
• Develop training and certification programs that expand technician capability and create consistent workmanship across the team.
• Partner with Electrical, Mechanical, RF, Test, Reliability, Manufacturing, and program leads to anticipate demand and resolve execution constraints.
• Ensure drawings, work instructions, test procedures, and material kits are ready before work begins; drive improvements when documentation is incomplete.
• Lead escalations involving difficult builds, intermittent failures, test-equipment problems, or recurring workmanship issues.
• Develop metrics for build quality, throughput, rework, schedule adherence, equipment utilization, and technician capacity.
• Own lab readiness, including tools, test equipment, calibration, consumables, material flow, safety, and workspace organization.
• Support work at suppliers, manufacturing facilities, test sites, and deployment locations when needed.

Requirements

• Proven success managing and developing technicians who build and test complex electronics, avionics, robotics, or other high-reliability hardware.
• Experience hiring, onboarding, setting performance expectations, providing feedback, and developing technical career paths.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of electronics assembly, soldering, crimping, harnessing, rework, inspection, integration, and test.
• Ability to read electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings, BOMs, and work instructions.
• Experience troubleshooting hardware using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, power supplies, electronic loads, logic analyzers, and related equipment.
• Demonstrated ability to plan team capacity, manage competing priorities, and deliver reliable execution across multiple programs.
• Experience establishing workmanship, safety, ESD, documentation, and configuration-control standards.
• Strong cross-functional communication and the judgment to balance schedule urgency with hardware quality and safety.
• Willingness to remain technically engaged and work alongside the team when complex or urgent problems arise.
• Ability to work in person in South San Francisco and travel occasionally to suppliers, manufacturing facilities, and test or deployment sites.

Nice to have

• IPC J-STD-001, IPC-A-610, IPC/WHMA-A-620, or equivalent certification or training experience.
• Experience supporting aerospace, robotics, automotive, medical-device, or other safety-critical products.
• Experience with RF hardware, antennas, flex circuits, environmental testing, or electronics failure analysis.
• Familiarity with PLM, MES, inventory, issue-tracking, and test-data systems.