---
title: 'Senior Motor Technology Development Engineer at Zipline'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-motor-technology-development-engineer-zipline-south-san-francisco-v196syfqpbmv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Senior Motor Technology Development Engineer at Zipline 

- **Company:** Zipline 
- **Location:** South San Francisco California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-08-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://www.zipline.com/open-roles/7907179003?gh_jid=7907179003

## 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

Zipline is looking for a Senior Motor Development Engineer to help develop the next generation of electric motor technologies that enable our autonomous delivery systems. This is a hands-on mechanical engineering role focused on turning new motor concepts, especially stator winding concepts, into repeatable, production-ready processes.

You will work across design, manufacturing, test, controls, and supply chain to develop the tooling, equipment, process methods, and technical documentation needed to build motors reliably at scale. The work will span early prototypes, process experimentation, equipment development, supplier engagement, and production readiness. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable designing a fixture, troubleshooting a winding process on the shop floor, analyzing data from a build, and driving a supplier toward a robust solution.

## What You’ll Do

- Lead the development and industrialization of stator winding and other novel motor assembly processes for new motor technologies, from early prototypes through production readiness.
- Develop practical manufacturing methods for processes such as wire forming, winding, insertion, termination, impregnation, adhesive application, and related motor assembly operations.
- Design, prototype, debug, and validate tooling, fixtures, gauges, and semi-automated or automated production equipment.
- Translate motor design intent and performance requirements into manufacturable process specifications, equipment requirements, and acceptance criteria.
- Plan and execute hands-on experiments, design-of-experiments studies, and process trials to evaluate new materials, tooling concepts, equipment architectures, and winding methods.
- Build and test prototype motors and stators; investigate defects and performance variation using structured root-cause methods.
- Establish process windows, key process parameters, inspection methods, and test requirements that support repeatable manufacturing.
- Partner with electrical, electromagnetic, thermal, controls, test, quality, and operations engineers to resolve design-for-manufacturing and process integration issues.
- Drive equipment and process development with external suppliers, including writing requirements, reviewing designs, managing build progress, supporting factory acceptance testing, and closing technical issues.
- Create and maintain manufacturing documentation, including process flows, work instructions, control plans, PFMEAs, equipment specifications, validation plans, and process qualification reports.
- Support technology down-selects by evaluating manufacturability, scalability, cost, reliability, and production risk.
- Transfer mature processes and equipment to manufacturing partners or internal production teams, and support ramp-up through capability improvement and corrective action.

## What You’ll Bring

- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechatronics, or a related field.
- 5+ years of experience developing electromechanical products, manufacturing processes, or production equipment; experience at the senior level is preferred.
- Demonstrated experience taking a process or piece of equipment from concept through prototype, validation, and production release.
- Strong hands-on mechanical skills and comfort working directly with tools, fixtures, prototype equipment, measurement systems, and production hardware.
- Experience developing or improving motor, generator, actuator, or other electromagnetic component manufacturing processes.
- Practical knowledge of stator winding or coil manufacturing. Experience with random-wound, concentrated, distributed, hairpin, or other winding architectures is valuable.
- Ability to design and detail mechanical components and tooling using CAD, with a working understanding of tolerancing, GD&T, materials, and fabrication methods.
- Experience with mechatronic equipment, including sensors, actuators, motion systems, pneumatics, basic electrical systems, and troubleshooting of automated processes.
- Experience using structured problem-solving methods, process capability analysis, DOE, measurement-system analysis, and statistical or data-driven process improvement.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with both internal technical teams and external suppliers.
- Willingness to spend significant time in the lab, prototype area, and manufacturing environment.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience designing or commissioning winding, coil-forming, wire-handling, insertion, stripping, crimping, welding, impregnation, or stator assembly equipment.
- Experience with magnet wire, enamel insulation systems, slot liners, wedges, varnish or resin systems, lacing materials, and related motor manufacturing materials.
- Experience developing automated or semi-automated equipment from a blank-sheet concept, including vendor selection and factory acceptance testing.
- Familiarity with PLC-controlled machinery, industrial motion control, machine vision, force or torque monitoring, and production data collection.
- Experience with motor electrical and mechanical validation, including winding resistance, hipot or insulation testing, surge testing, dimensional inspection, balancing, and functional testing.
- Experience with design for manufacturing and assembly, PFMEA, process validation, capability studies, and production ramp-up.
- Experience working with contract manufacturers, equipment integrators, or overseas suppliers.
- Proficiency with CAD and drawing-release systems; experience with machining, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, or other rapid-prototyping methods.
- Experience in aerospace, automotive, robotics, drones, or another high-performance electromechanical product environment.

What Else You Need to Know

This role involves regular hands-on work in engineering labs, prototype build areas, and manufacturing environments. It may include occasional travel to suppliers or manufacturing partners to support equipment builds, process trials, and production readiness activities. 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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