Mechanical Test Engineering Manager

About Zipline

Do you want to change the world Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the worlds most urgent and complex access challenges by building manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally wherever they are. From powering Rwandas national blood delivery network and Ghanas COVID-19 vaccine distribution to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes we are transforming the way things move for businesses governments and consumers.

The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need when you need it. Through our technology that includes robotics and autonomy we are decarbonizing delivery decreasing road congestion and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.

Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.

Zipline is hiring a Mechanical Test Engineering Manager that is excited to lead the team responsible for testing and validating the function and reliability of safety critical hardware at Zipline. A specific focus will be on our new system Platform 2 as it enters the next phase of development. Platform 2 represents a groundbreaking innovation for Zipline as we prepare to manufacture 100s of thousands of these life-saving drones making it our most ambitious and impactful project to date. This is not just another drone project; its a game-changing hybrid eVTOL that will revolutionize the way life-saving products are delivered around the world.

In this role you will be responsible for leading a multidisciplinary team of test engineers with broad cross-functional engagement to deliver performant safe and proven hardware across the range of initial development testing to full validation test. This effort will enable Ziplines impact to expand from 100s of thousand deliveries/year to 100s of millions in a wide variety of environmental conditions around the world. You will act as a player-coach who is as comfortable providing strategic vision as they are being in the weeds of the teams designs builds analysis and reviews.

You will help Zipline evolve its hardware testing philosophy and capacity and grow the team in the process. The success of this team is vital to the success of Zipline overall.

• Lead a team of test engineers and specialists. This group is responsible for:
  
  • Contributing to the overall intuition of the design engineering team through close involvement in design reviews prototyping and testing of components and building operating purchasing and maintaining test equipment.
  • Developing strategies and test campaigns to efficiently evaluate function reliability and safety of critical components and assemblies.
  • Root causing failures alongside design engineers and working to create elegant solutions.
• Raise the bar for the existing team by creating a vision for the future of the team based on company goals and implementing strategies to achieve outcomes.
• Scope out areas where growth is needed and make key hires that revolutionize the quality and pace of work

• Leverage your technical leadership experience in relevant fields to establish a team culture that biases towards action and tests ideas to achieve radically simple and reliable designs.
• Motivate your team with a clear vision and create ambitious plans for your teams work while holding a high bar for technical quality
• Build your team by hiring world class engineers

• Past success leading engineering teams to rapidly develop first of its kind hardware and deploy into the field with the level of rigor that a high volume or safety critical application requires.
• Deep technical depth in test hardware design and interfacing with software and automation structures mechanisms and how to rapidly and effectively test for performance capability and reliability
• Enthusiasm for building a team - finding and convincing top talent to join you in your work.
• Past success managing and developing an excellent team of engineers.
• Past success bringing products through the full product development life cycle