Director of Hardware Engineering - Dropbox
Zipline · South San Francisco, CA
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Manufacturing
- Base pay
- $225k–$275k
- Industry
- Aerospace & defense
- Posted
- 30+ days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level manufacturing role at Zipline (aerospace & defense) in South San Francisco, CA. It combines mechatronics, electrical systems, sensing, test infrastructure, field reliability, manufacturability, and site deployment constraints into one customer facing product.
- Tools it names
- Root cause, Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ)
- Base pay
- $225k–$275k
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026
Manufacturing Engineer roles in California: typical posted base $114k–$167k. This one lists $225k–$275k.
Median of the low and high ends of 117 live postings that list pay, out of 320 manufacturing engineer openings in California, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
California plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 319 other live manufacturing postings in California.
- Base pay
- About 87% above similar roles
- Experience asked
- Not stated
Typical $111k–$157k, from 105 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- Tooling 53%
- ✓ New product launch 51%
- ✓ Root cause 40%
- Automation 35%
- Machining 29%
- CATIA / NX 29%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Manufacturing team at Zipline
We found 3 people at this company and state: 2 in this kind of role, 1 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
Write to Scott → (free) - 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is the work mostly new product launches or sustaining existing lines?
- How much time do you spend on the floor versus at a desk?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
This plant: Zipline in South San Francisco
25 other open roles at this site · 3 people we found in manufacturing roles at Zipline.
- Supplier Quality Engineer · Quality
- Mechanical Engineering Manager · Reliability · Manager
- Senior Manufacturing Engineer · Manufacturing · Senior
- Marketplace Strategy & Operations Manager · Production · Manager
- Engineering Technician, Powertrain · Manufacturing
- Production Technician · Production · Technician
Full description from ZiplineAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
About You and The Role
Dropbox is Zipline’s ground-side hardware system for autonomous package loading, storage, transfer, and pickup. It combines mechatronics, electrical systems, sensing, test infrastructure, field reliability, manufacturability, and site deployment constraints into one customer facing product.
This role reports to the Chief Hardware Officer and will lead the mechanical, electrical, test, and technician teams responsible for taking this first of its kind product from architecture through design, validation, launch, and scalable deployment.
What You'll Do
- ◆Own Dropbox hardware execution across ME, EE, test, technician work, integration, validation, and release readiness.
- ◆Lead system-level architecture tradeoffs across throughput, reliability, safety, installability, manufacturability, serviceability, regulatory impact, and cost per deployed site.
- ◆Drive the hardware path from prototype through production-intent design, including mechanisms, enclosure, sensing, harnessing, power, electronics, and test coverage.
- ◆Build the hardware team’s operating system: priorities, staffing, technical reviews, issue triage, design gates, DVP&R, build planning, and escalation paths.
- ◆Manage technical risk across moving mechanisms, dynamic harnesses, motor/sensor architecture, package handoff, public-facing safety, environmental exposure, and field service.
- ◆Partner with firmware, autonomy, RF, cloud, operations, manufacturing, supply chain, regulatory, and customer-facing teams to make Dropbox deployable at real partner sites.
- ◆Create durable validation evidence for mechanical safety, electrical safety, environmental robustness, package quality, site compatibility, and operational reliability.
- ◆Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for design, test, production, and field issues.
- ◆Hire, coach, and manage a world class multidisciplinary team of mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, test engineers, and technicians.
- ◆Make clear decisions when the team must trade speed, robustness, complexity, cost, and future extensibility.
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; overtime pay; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.
We value divers
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
About Zipline
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.
What You'll Bring
- •You know have demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary hardware teams, challenging world class engineers to do the best work of their lives through fast product development cycles.
- •Outstanding mechanical and electrical system judgment, with enough depth to challenge architecture, test plans, and failure-mode assumptions.
- •Experience with electromechanical products involving motion, sensing, harnessing, safety interlocks, environmental exposure, and production validation.
- •Demonstrated ability to manage hardware development from architecture through builds, test, supplier engagement, manufacturing handoff, and field support.
- •Strong product judgment around user experience, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and cost, not just first-article performance.
- •Ability to build team structure, clarify ownership, and turn ambiguous technical work into executable plans.
- •Comfort operating across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, operations, regulatory, and leadership stakeholders.
- •Clear written and verbal communication, especially around technical risk, decision logs, trade studies, and launch readiness.
- •Bias toward evidence: test data, prototyping, design reviews, failure analysis, and explicit acceptance criteria.
What Else You Need To Know
The starting cash range for this role is $225,000-275,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum