About this Software Engineer, Production Test role at Zipline
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.
About You & the Role
We are hiring a Software Engineer, Production Test to own the software that orchestrates electrical, functional, and automated testing of Zipline aircraft, docks, delivery pods, and subassembly hardware. You will develop reproducible test flows, instrument interfaces, data logging, and MES integration, and carry that software through tester validation, deployment, and sustainment. Working closely with electrical, mechanical, firmware, quality, and manufacturing partners, you will debug test behavior and maintain traceable software changes across production testers.
Zipline operates safety-critical autonomous aircraft and logistics systems that deliver medicine and essentials across varied field conditions; production test directly affects fleet uptime, field reliability, and customer deliveries. In this hands-on individual-contributor role you will own your discipline’s contribution to end-to-end test system delivery for factory floors that support high-throughput manufacturing and rapid product iterations. You will be expected to prioritize safety, traceability, and measurable improvements in yield and time-to-deploy while working in a fast-scaling production environment with direct consequences for aircraft reliability and delivery network performance.
What You’ll Do
- Implement test automation and data pipelines for repeatable execution, logging, MES/MFG integration, and production dashboards.
- Own production testers and calibration stations from requirements through internal or vendor build, installation, validation, release, and sustainment.
- Define test coverage, pass/fail limits, golden units, GR&R, capability targets, and release criteria with design, firmware, quality, and operations partners.
- Build electrical and functional testers that integrate harnessing, DAQ, sensors, actuators, power systems, safety interlocks, and mechanical fixtures.
- Troubleshoot PCBA failures, tester instability, fixture issues, software defects, and product/tester correlation failures on the factory floor.
- Improve first-pass yield, false-fail rate, cycle time, uptime, and utilization; set targets and report progress monthly.
- Coordinate vendor builds, FAT/SAT, qualification, training, calibration, spares, and change control.
- Standardize tester interfaces and automation to reduce operator steps and touch time; maintain procedures, validation records, and maintenance plans for traceable production.
What You’ll Bring
- 7+ years building production test systems, automated test equipment, or end-of-line testers for electromechanical products, with ownership of multiple shipped tester programs.
- A BS in Electrical, Mechatronics, Mechanical, or Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
- Hands-on skills in instrumentation, signal measurement, power delivery, harnessing, sensors, actuators, and PCBA debugging.
- Strong test-automation experience; Python is preferred, with experience in LabVIEW, TestStand, or embedded test frameworks and common test instruments.
- Familiarity with CAN, UART, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, USB, and firmware-hardware interactions.
- A record of measurable production improvements, cross-functional coordination, and vendor qualification.
- Rigorous attention to safety, traceability, hands-on troubleshooting, and technical judgment under production pressure.
First-Year Success
- Deliver and validate production tester programs with documented acceptance criteria and production-release evidence.
- Reduce false failures and improve first-pass yield, cycle time, and tester uptime for supported lines.
- Sustain traceable, repeatable test execution and report progress against agreed production goals.
What Else You Need to Know
The starting cash range for this role is $125,000 - $145,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. We are always open to negotiation. 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.
Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.
We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!
Voluntary Self-Identification
For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.
As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.
