As a Senior Mechanical Hardware Reliability Engineer, you will own the reliability of critical mechanical and electromechanical systems across Zipline's autonomous delivery platform. You'll work at both system and component level, defining reliability targets, leading FMEAs, developing accelerated life testing, and driving failures to root cause. This role requires strong technical ownership and cross-functional collaboration to deliver hardware capable of long service lives at scale.

Responsibilities

Own the reliability strategy for mission-critical mechanical subsystems or entire systems, such as the Dropbox or delivery pod, applying Design-for-Reliability (DfR) and Physics-of-Failure (PoF) principles.
Define system reliability targets, life requirements, and release criteria based on safety, availability, unit economics, operational burden, and the maturity of the program. Translate these targets into design-level requirements, verification plans, and objective pass/fail criteria.
Lead system- and component-level FMEAs to identify the highest-value reliability risks, influence architecture and design decisions, and prioritize where deeper analysis or testing is needed.
Develop Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) and environmental test campaigns that efficiently demonstrate long-term performance, including determining how to revalidate systems as designs evolve.
Lead complex test failures and field issues from initial triage through root cause, risk assessment, and corrective action, including making technically grounded recommendations about hardware readiness and release.
Sign off on test verification results and assess hardware readiness for flight from a reliability standpoint.
Define operational life limits and service intervals using a combination of test data, field returns, and statistical models.
Provide clear technical direction in ambiguous situations, balancing reliability risk against schedule, resources, cost, and operational impact.
Improve Zipline’s reliability methods, tools, standards, and decision-making processes as the company scales.

Requirements

B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
5+ years of relevant engineering experience developing and validating safety-critical electromechanical systems through delivery to customers.
Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals and the ability to reason from first principles about hardware behavior and failure.
Experience owning technically complex hardware at the subsystem or system level and independently driving ambiguous problems from risk identification through resolution.
Experience applying reliability methods such as DFMEA, accelerated-life testing, environmental testing, failure analysis, or life modeling.
Demonstrated ability to identify the dominant risks in a complex system, prioritize limited engineering and test resources, and determine when sufficient evidence exists to support a design or release decision.
Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to:
explain complex technical issues clearly;
synthesize ambiguous information into a coherent problem statement;
write concise, decision-oriented technical documentation; and
drive cross-functional alignment on reliability trade-offs and technical decisions around design, supply-chain, quality, manufacturing, finance, and operations.
Demonstrated ownership and practical problem-solving ability, including driving technically complex issues through resolution.
Ability to independently develop new technical depth and move fluidly between system-level reliability questions and detailed component-level investigations.

Nice to have

Experience with mechanisms, robotics, long-life mechanical systems, highly utilized products, or hardware designed for minimal maintenance is especially valuable. Experience spanning both mechanical and electrical aspects of electromechanical systems is a plus.

Benefits

The starting cash range for this role is $140,000-$180,000. 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.