Mechanical Design Engineer - Droid SMI

Zipline is seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer to own subsystems of the EV3 droid, the delivery container that detaches from the aircraft and descends to place orders. The role involves end-to-end ownership from architecture and detailed design through prototyping, validation, DFM, tooling, and production ramp, working closely with industrial design and cross-functional teams. The engineer will design test fixtures and assembly aids to enable consistent production at scale.

Responsibilities

• Own subsystems of the droid end-to-end, from architecture, detailed design, prototyping, validation, DFM, tooling, and production ramp.
• Partner directly with our industrial design team to translate ID intent into engineered product - surfacing, split lines, materials, finishes, color, tactile feel. Without sacrificing manufacturability, cost, or reliability.
• Define and negotiate requirements for your subsystems, working with systems engineering, operations, and cross-functional hardware leads to make sure what you build is what the product actually needs.
• Design in CAD (we use Siemens NX) with the fluency to iterate through architectures and designs quickly.
• Use hand calcs, FEA, clean first-principles thinking and prototyping to bound problems, size parts, and down select between options.
• Design the test fixtures, assembly aids, and inspection tooling that your subsystem needs to be built and validated at rate, while partnering closely with our test engineering team on life-test rigs and end-of-line testers.
• Drive parts, assemblies, and BOMs through release, revision control, and change management with the discipline that a product at scale demands.
• Work closely with our electrical, firmware, thermal, and manufacturing engineers to make sure the mechanical design is tightly-integrated within our system.
• Travel occasionally to suppliers and manufacturing partners (China, Malaysia, Japan, Italy, Germany, Vietnam) to qualify processes, resolve tooling issues, and support production ramps.

Requirements

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Engineering, or a related field, with 4+ years of hands-on experience delivering physical products to production.
• A track record of owning at least one complex subassembly or full product end-to-end - from requirements through concept, prototype, validation, tooling, and production.
• Real experience collaborating with industrial designers on a consumer-visible or user-facing product, and a genuine appreciation for what ID brings to the table.
• Demonstrated CAD fluency for system-level ownership - we use Siemens NX; strong Creo, SolidWorks, or CATIA experience translates too.
• Strong fundamentals: load estimation, hand calcs, tolerance analysis, FEA, GD&T, and clean CAD practices.
• Practical knowledge of the manufacturing methods we use on the droid — injection molding, thermoplastic and thermoset composites, EPP foam molding, stamping, CNC machining, and the tooling that goes with them.
• Hands-on prototyping instincts - you're comfortable in a machine shop, at a 3D printer, and building a first article with your own hands before it goes to a supplier.
• The judgment to know when to iterate, when to freeze, and when the design is telling you something the requirements got wrong.

Nice to have

• Prior work on a consumer-visible hardware product where industrial design was a first-class stakeholder
• Experience designing test fixtures, assembly aids, or end-of-line testers alongside the products they support
• Experience carrying a design through tooling kickoff, T0 samples, and production ramp at a contract manufacturer
• Familiarity with electronics integration - flex circuit routing, PCB mounting, thermal control, connectors, sealing
• Experience with high-cycle mechanical reliability and design-for-reliability practices
• Prior work in drone, robotics, automotive, medical device, or consumer electronics NPI

Benefits

• 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.