---
title: 'Engineering Test Technician – Ground Systems at Zipline'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-test-technician-ground-systems-zipline-south-san-francisco-sgw41jfp5bdh'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Engineering Test Technician – Ground Systems at Zipline 

- **Company:** Zipline 
- **Location:** South San Francisco California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://www.zipline.com/open-roles/7978930003?gh_jid=7978930003

## Job description

## 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 and The Role

The Ground Systems team designs, builds, tests, and maintains the infrastructure that supports Zipline’s autonomous delivery systems. This includes charging and docking equipment, battery handling systems, electrical power distribution, communications hardware, embedded controls, package handling equipment, environmental monitoring systems, and the test infrastructure used to validate them.

As an Engineering Test Technician, you will be a hands-on member of the engineering team responsible for building, testing, troubleshooting, and improving electrical hardware and test systems. You will work closely with Electrical, Mechanical, Embedded Software, Systems, Manufacturing, and Operations teams to support products from early prototypes through validation, qualification, manufacturing, and field deployment.

You enjoy solving practical hardware problems, working directly with electrical and electromechanical systems, and taking ownership of tasks from setup through documentation. You are comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment, communicate clearly across disciplines, and look for ways to improve safety, quality, reliability, and repeatability.

## What You'll Do

Build and assemble electrical hardware

- Assemble and modify electrical prototypes, wire harnesses, test fixtures, breakout boards, and engineering builds.
- Perform soldering, wire termination, crimping, heat shrinking, connector assembly, and PCB rework to engineering standards.
- Verify wiring, harness integrity, continuity, and build quality before testing.
- Follow build documentation and communicate discrepancies, design concerns, and improvement opportunities to engineering teams.

Create and execute engineering tests

- Create, maintain, and operate electrical and electromechanical test setups based on engineering requirements.
- Configure and use oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, data acquisition systems, environmental chambers, and data logging tools.
- Execute functional, environmental, reliability, qualification, and field-simulation testing.
- Collect, organize, and document test results in a structured and repeatable manner.

Troubleshoot and investigate failures

- Diagnose electrical, mechanical, and system-level failures in prototypes, test fixtures, and deployed hardware.
- Debug wiring issues, communication failures, sensor anomalies, power distribution problems, and data acquisition systems.
- Partner with engineering teams to isolate root causes, support corrective actions, and clearly communicate findings and recommendations. Zipline | Engineering Test Technician – Ground Systems (Electrical Systems)

Support data collection and analysis

- Support automated test execution and data acquisition using engineering tools, scripts, Linux-based systems, sensors, and test equipment.
- Validate and organize test data for engineering review, perform first-order analysis, and identify anomalies or unexpected behavior.
- Generate clear summaries of test results, risks, failures, and recommended next steps.

Improve documentation, processes, and lab operations

- Create and improve test procedures, work instructions, and standard operating procedures.
- Maintain accurate records of builds, tests, failures, and corrective actions.
- Maintain laboratory equipment, fixtures, tooling, and test infrastructure, including calibration and safe operating status.
- Identify and implement opportunities to improve test efficiency, reliability, safety, quality, and repeatability.
- Support inventory management for components, consumables, and test hardware.

## What You'll Bring

## Minimum qualifications

- 2–5+ years of experience in engineering test, electronics, manufacturing test, new product introduction, or a related hands-on hardware role.
- Hands-on experience building, testing, and troubleshooting electrical hardware systems, prototypes, or test equipment.
- Proficiency with soldering, wire harness fabrication, crimping, connector assembly, wire termination, and PCB rework.
- Experience using oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, data acquisition systems, and other electrical laboratory equipment.
- Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, assembly drawings, and test procedures.
- Experience collecting test data, executing technical procedures, and documenting results clearly.
- Basic familiarity with Linux-based systems and automated test environments.
- Strong troubleshooting, problem-solving, attention to detail, and commitment to quality.
- Ability to work independently with limited instruction while collaborating effectively across engineering teams.
- Clear written and verbal communication skills and a willingness to learn new tools, technologies, and test methods.

## Nice to have

- Experience with automated test equipment, data acquisition systems, or Python scripting for test automation and troubleshooting.
- Experience in aerospace, robotics, autonomous systems, electric vehicles, or other complex electromechanical products.
- Experience supporting new product introduction, engineering validation, or qualification programs.
- Experience with environmental testing, including thermal, vibration, or ingress protection testing.
- Familiarity with CAD, fixture design, rapid prototyping, reliability testing, or structured root cause analysis.
- Experience creating or improving standard operating procedures, work instructions, and engineering documentation.

Success in this role means building accurate and safe hardware, creating reliable and repeatable test setups, identifying failures early, producing actionable test data, and communicating clearly with cross-functional partners while continuously improving how the work is done.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting hourly rate for this role is $41-$52. 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.

## About Zipline 

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Zipline is an American robotics company that operates the world’s largest autonomous drone delivery service, transporting medical supplies, food, and retail goods across multiple continents.
- **Entity Type**: Private (early-stage startup)
- **Headquarters**: South San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: March 2014
- **Founders**: Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oksenhorn, William Hetzler

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Logistics / Drone delivery
- **Target customers**: B2B (healthcare systems, governments, retailers like Walmart and Chipotle) and B2C (home delivery via the Zipline app)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Build the first logistics system that serves all people equally” – initially focused on saving lives by delivering blood and medicine to remote communities, now expanded to instant urban delivery.

## Products & Services
- **Platform 1 (P1)**: Long-range, rural delivery drone. Carries up to 4 lbs, roundtrip range 120+ miles, cruise speed 60 mph. Uses parachute delivery. Designed for enterprise, government, and healthcare supply chains.
- **Platform 2 (P2)**: Urban/suburban home delivery drone. Carries up to 8 lbs, service radius 10 miles (or 24 miles one way), cruise speed 70 mph. Delivers via a tether from up to 300 ft, allowing contactless drop-off. Launched in 2025 and used for food, retail, and health products.
- **Zipping Points**: Modular ground stations that allow businesses to load orders onto drones without specialized equipment.
- **FlightIQ**: Advanced onboard autonomy and perception suite for safe navigation and delivery.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric**: 2 million commercial deliveries completed (as of January 2026) and 130 million autonomous miles flown.[wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipline_(drone_delivery_company))[zipline-fact-sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in available sources. Key partners include Walmart, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Crumbl, Blaze Pizza, Wendy’s, and many other restaurant brands. In healthcare, works with more than 5,000 hospitals and health centers.
- **Growth Signals**: Expanded into urban home delivery in 2025 (P2) with service in Pea Ridge, Arkansas and 20+ communities in Dallas-Fort Worth. Obtained FAA authorization for beyond visual line of sight operations. Reports 56% decrease in maternal mortality and 66% decrease in missed malaria treatments in served regions.[zipline-fact-sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Autonomous drone fleet**: One of the world’s largest commercial deployments of autonomous robots, with custom software running on Nvidia chips.
- **FAA approval**: All operations and aircraft are FAA-approved, including pioneering use of Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM).
- **Quieter than road vehicles**: Drones hover high and descend on a tether, generating noise lower than common neighborhood sounds.
- **Extensive testing**: One of the largest aviation testing campaigns, with operations in rain, wind, and storms.
- **Integrated logistics platform**: Beyond drones, Zipline provides warehousing, inventory management, cold chain storage, and fulfillment software.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling the Platform 2 urban delivery network across the U.S., particularly through partnerships with major retailers and restaurants.
- Deepening healthcare impact by expanding into new countries and product categories (prescriptions, groceries, convenience items).
- Continuing to reduce delivery times and environmental footprint (0 emissions per delivery, compared to automotive delivery).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture values**: Ownership & Accountability, Direct Feedback & Communication, Continuous Improvement, Customer Obsession, Servant Leadership (as stated on careers page). Emphasis on “Make it matter” and mission-driven work.[careers](https://www.zipline.com/careers)
- **Work environment**: Headquartered in South San Francisco with hardware and software teams. The company assembles its drones in America. Likely on-site given the hardware focus; remote/hybrid policy not explicitly stated.
- **Impact**: Opportunity to work on life-saving technology (60,000+ lives saved) and shape the future of instant logistics.
- **Engineering culture**: Build and iterate on autonomous systems, airspace deconfliction, and large-scale robotics deployments.

## Sources
1. [Zipline Careers](https://www.zipline.com/careers)
2. [Zipline Homepage](https://www.zipline.com/)
3. [About Zipline](https://www.zipline.com/about)
4. [Zipline Fact Sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet)
5. [Wikipedia - Zipline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipline_(drone_delivery_company))
6. [Greenhouse Careers Page](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/flyzipline)

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