Lead Manufacturing Engineer

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.

• •Coordinate capacity, layouts, equipment, and readiness with Design Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, and Operations; deliver a validated pilot line and stabilize production.
• •Own assigned assembly lines and feeder subassemblies from process definition, tooling, and pilot builds through validation, release, and sustainment.
• •Define and validate assembly sequences, PFMEAs, control plans, SPC, capability studies, first-article processes, and release criteria.
• •Design, procure, install, and commission fixtures, gauges, tooling, workstations, and ergonomic operator flows.
• •Improve first-pass yield, throughput, takt time, equipment reliability, downtime, and cost of poor quality against agreed targets.
• •Lead design-for-manufacturing decisions that balance assembly time, inspection, cost, safety, and field reliability.
• •Investigate production issues and escapes, validate root causes, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• •Create SOPs, work instructions, and training materials; train and qualify technicians and line leads

• •7+ years of hands-on manufacturing engineering experience with complex electromechanical assembly lines, including experience scaling volume by an order of magnitude.
• •A BS in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• •Practical mastery of PFMEA, control plans, SPC, Cp/Cpk, first-article processes, and production validation.
• •Experience designing and validating fixtures, jigs, and tooling using 3D CAD; Siemens NX is preferred.
• •Experience using MES/ERP and tools such as Minitab, JMP, or Excel to improve yield and process capability.
• •End-to-end project ownership, including planning, budgeting, procurement, commissioning, and sustainment with minimal oversight.
• •Sound DFM judgment, clear communication, attention to detail, and accountability for safe production and measurable results.

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is $160,000 - $190,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum