Senior Solutions Engineer

This role will contribute to both commercial and our US government programs.

Role

As a Senior Solutions Engineer you will be working on satellite network design and analysis for global commercial and government solutions. This role will focus on pre-sales engineering for commercial pursuits, but also support post sales engineering and internal development efforts. At its core, this involves optimizing high throughput satellite networks, from design to operation, by understanding and trading dozens of parameters, including but not limited to: 

• Satellite communications payload configuration and development
• Orbital slot selection, spectrum, and frequency planning 
• Antenna system optimization, user coverage area definition
• User terminal selection
• Networking / modem equipment selection and configuration 
• Gateway and remote earth station selection
• Baseband selection to meet the client’s specific use case

This is an exciting multi-dimensional role that provides a balance of technical and business / customer facing responsibilities, and is high visibility and high impact. Our responsibilities include:

• Create satellite network solutions for commercial pursuits all the way through deal closure and beyond.
• Modeling and analyzing satellite networks using in house network software
• Interfacing with Commercial, US Government, Finance, Legal, Engineering, Operations, Regulatory and Executive teams
• Communicate our satellite network designs and reports externally as solutions/sales engineers
• Aid in regulatory (FCC, ITU, etc.) efforts regarding spectrum use and coordination
• Aid and influence the design of analysis software that enables us to excel in our role.
• Define product market fit for next generation satellite communication systems
• Dimensioning ground solutions for commercial pursuits by working with Earth Stations Engineering/Operations, Network Operations, and Hub teams
• Building Astranis’s profile with the international business community
• Maintain healthy relationships with vendors and partners such as network hardware/service suppliers, hub vendors, and terminal suppliers for satellite networks
• Shaping our future product offering based on current trends, market insight, and customer feedback
• Assisting in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring additional teammates to our rapidly-growing team
• Willingness to travel (Up to ~20%)

Requirements 

• 5+ years in satellites communications industry experience with High Throughput Satellite (HTS) systems including ground, hub, and network systems for LEO, MEO, or GEO 
• Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or Physics  (or equivalent background knowledge) 
• Enjoy working in a fast paced environment and shaping process and procedures for long term growth
• Link budgeting / Link analysis experience
• Experience with regulatory affairs for space based communications networks
• Experience with satellite network hub management and operations
• Proven track record in strategic technical sales environments balancing the customers’ wants with internal capabilities and goals
• Scripting language experience in one of the following: Python (preferred), MATLAB, R, Julia, C++, or similar. Comfortable using scripted tools to conduct analyses and trade studies. 
• Must be onsite in San Francisco
• Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.

Bonus  

• Experience in cellular 3g, 4g, LTE, and 5g network protocol
• Experience in SD-WAN architecture
• Experience working Military Satellite communications systems

About You and The Role 

As a Senior Motor Control Engineer at Zipline, you’ll be responsible for shipping high-performance motor controller firmware for Zipline’s family of proprietary motor controllers. Expect to work closely with electrical engineers, structures and mechanism designers, flight software developers, and test-site operations teams. Our close-knit engineering culture presents a unique opportunity to learn from a strong multi-disciplinary team, and lets you swiftly ship features that are clearly linked to the delivery experience.

We use C++ in our firmware development, with Rust and Python for tooling that will be deployed to our production systems in the field. The team uses hardware- and software-in-the-loop test infrastructure to validate new features and regression test existing functionality. You’ll often be querying large data-sets from our test operations to make high-quality data-driven engineering decisions and build prototypes of new algorithms. You’ll build analyses in Matlab, Julia, or Python to prove the performance of your controls designs, and execute Monte-Carlo simulations to validate complex dynamics.

What You'll Do

• Design estimators and controllers for propulsion motors and actuators, in close collaboration with the vehicle controls team.
• Implement these controllers in C++, targeting a bare-metal ARM microcontroller.
• Write peripheral drivers for new revisions of Zipline’s motor controller hardware.
• Get your hands dirty validating your firmware on the bench and in flight tests.
• Understand and improve the reliability of the flight software system as a whole, working with hardware and systems engineers to develop comprehensive fault management strategies and hardware-in-the-loop tests.
• Build vehicle simulations in Rust to validate and regression test Zipline’s firmware.
• Collaborate with electrical engineers to bring-up and validate new inverter designs.
• Build and maintain automated systems to monitor the performance of our fleet and direct maintenance activity.

What You'll Bring

• Fluency in C/C++, and excitement about writing code in Rust and Python.
• Eagerness to learn in a fast-paced safety-critical environment.
• Some experience with mechatronic control systems: hobby projects or professional experience are applicable.
• Curiosity and a willingness to work in a variety of embedded environments, from running on bare metal, to using a RTOS and integrating with embedded Linux.
• Experience supporting robotic systems in the real-world, in particular addressing the long-tail of edge-cases and rare events to guarantee safety, reliability, and performance.
• A systems-engineering mindset, and an eye for finding efficient solutions to problems that may lie outside your core competencies.
• Strong executive communication skills, to efficiently communicate about your work with stakeholders outside your technical domain.
• You must be able to work on-site in South San Francisco, CA.
• A background in electronics design would be appreciated, but is not required.

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is $155,000 - $225,000. 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.

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!

Please Note

We have received reports stating that certain individuals are reaching out to people under false pretenses, claiming to be Zipline employees, affiliates, agents, or representatives. They may seek to gain access to your personal information or to acquire money from you by offering fictitious employment opportunities or by claiming that they are contacting you on Zipline’s behalf.

Genuine Zipline employees or representatives will never ask you for money or payment in exchange for employment opportunities or other related services. Any such offer of employment or any other service in exchange for fees that claims to be from us is deceitful and part of a fraud.

If you believe you have been targeted by a fraudulent party, we ask that you immediately get in touch with us via email at security@flyzipline.com upon receiving a suspicious offer or claim.

About You and The Role 

What You'll Do

• Develop dynamic models of complex systems and components that are core to our high fidelity 6DOF simulation.
• Analyze and improve the performance of existing and future vehicle designs through a combination of simulation and flight tests.
• Play a key role in deriving and verifying requirements for both hardware components and software interfaces, while balancing the technical need and broader product prerequisites as well as safety and regulatory standards.
• Identify and develop processes and tools to improve efficiency and protect against regressions.
• Design and implement onboard integrity tests to monitor how well the vehicle is flying and aid in understanding off-nominal performance and delivery failures, both in research and validation flights, as well as in the production fleet.
   
• Work in a high performing team, sharing your experience and improving efficiency while developing the next generation of logistics.

What You'll Bring

• Minimum of 4+ years of industry experience designing control, estimation algorithms and implementing them into embedded systems with the help of simulation tools to analyze performance
• Professional experience in one or more of the following areas: flight dynamics and control, dynamic modeling of complex physical systems, model identification, statistical analysis. Ideally you will have used your skills in these areas to successfully ship one or more complex products.
• Demonstrate enthusiasm and proficiency in both simulation practices and hands-on work with hardware, spanning from bench-level experimentation to comprehensive flight tests.
• Software skills in both technical computing (MATLAB, SciPi, Julia, etc) and embedded software (Rust, C, C++), with experience working in a large, complex, multi-developer environment.

What Else You Need to Know  

About the Role

As a Transformative AI Research Economist at Anthropic, you will build macroeconomic models of AI that could be genuinely transformative and develop the scenario-based forecasting tools that let us reason quantitatively about economic trajectories with no historical precedent. You will work on questions of aggregate growth, income distribution, and economic governance under scenarios that most of the profession has not yet modeled seriously.

You will ground projections in microeconomic signals from the Anthropic Economic Index — usage patterns across millions of real-world AI interactions, surfaced through privacy-preserving measurement — so that scenario forecasts are disciplined by what we actually observe about task transformation and productivity. You will use frontier methods in growth theory, computational macro, and structural estimation, and contribute to AI-powered tools that expand what economic research can do.

Our team combines rigorous empirical methods with novel measurement approaches. We're building first-of-its-kind datasets tracking AI's impact on labor markets, productivity, and economic transformation. Using our privacy-preserving measurement system, we analyze millions of real-world AI interactions to understand how AI augments and automates work across different occupations and tasks.

Responsibilities

• Build macroeconomic models of transformative AI spanning growth, labor markets, and income distribution

• Develop and maintain scenario-based forecasting tools; publish forecasts for GDP, productivity, and unemployment under a range of AI-capability trajectories

• Ground macroeconomic projections in microeconomic data from the Anthropic Economic Index, constraining theory with observed patterns of adoption and task transformation

• Analyze questions of income distribution and economic governance under transformative-AI scenarios

• Contribute to the development of AI-powered research tools for economics

• Contribute to Economic Index Reports and publish Research Briefs on first-order questions as they arise

• Build and maintain relationships with academic institutions, policy think tanks, and other research partners

• Amplify external engagement through research publications, policy briefs, and presentations to diverse stakeholders

You May Be a Good Fit If You Have

• PhD in Economics, or an exceptional candidate close to completion

• Background in macroeconomics, growth theory, or public finance ideally with exposure to task-based frameworks and labor economics

• A research record that engages seriously with the possibility of transformative AI — you treat the scenarios in this posting as live questions worth modeling rigorously, not speculation to be hedged against

• Relevant experience in some of:

  • Macroeconomic modeling and structural estimation

  • Scenario-based and time-series forecasting

  • Task-based approaches to technological change

  • Computational methods, agent-based modeling, or large-scale simulation

  • Income distribution and inequality

  • Using large language models in the research workflow

• Technical skills including:

  • Proficiency in Python, Julia, or similar for computational economics

  • Facility with AI coding agents as part of a research workflow

  • Comfort learning new technical tools and frameworks

• Demonstrated ability to:

  • Lead research projects from conception to publication

  • Ship on tight timelines and revise in public as new data arrives

  • Communicate technical findings to diverse audiences

• Strong interest in ensuring AI development benefits humanity

Some Examples of Our Recent Work

• Labor market impacts of AI: A new measure and early evidence

• Anthropic Economic Index Report: Economic Primitives

• Anthropic Economic Index Report: Uneven Geographic and Enterprise AI Adoption

• Estimating AI productivity gains from Claude conversations

• The Anthropic Economic Index

Additional Information

For this role, we're looking for candidates who combine rigorous macroeconomic theory with computational fluency, and who are willing to model economic scenarios that fall outside the profession's usual range. The ideal candidate works at the intersection of growth theory, forecasting, and frontier AI.

Deadline to apply: None. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis