---
title: 'Solder Engineering Technician, Powertrain at Zipline'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/solder-engineering-technician-powertrain-zipline-south-san-francisco-california-a8jzrh0fpn53'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-13'
---

# Solder Engineering Technician, Powertrain at Zipline 

- **Company:** Zipline 
- **Location:** South San Francisco California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13
- **Apply:** https://www.zipline.com/open-roles/7978932003?gh_jid=7978932003

## 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 builds autonomous delivery aircraft and ground systems that operate daily in demanding field environments. Reliable flight hardware begins with exceptional prototype craftsmanship. As an Electronics Engineering Technician specializing in soldering and prototype assembly, you will build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair the electronics that enable rapid development of our Powertrain systems.

The Powertrain organization develops the batteries, motors, motor controllers, power electronics, power distribution systems, wiring harnesses, sensors, and electromechanical hardware that power every Zipline aircraft. You will partner closely with electrical, mechanical, test, and manufacturing engineers to assemble engineering prototypes, perform precision soldering and rework, fabricate custom wiring harnesses, and rapidly iterate hardware throughout the product development lifecycle.

This role is open to technicians at all levels. Responsibilities and ownership will grow with experience, from supporting engineering builds to becoming a subject matter expert in high-reliability electronic assembly, prototype fabrication, and engineering laboratory support.

## What You'll Do

Support engineering programs from prototype build → assembly → inspection → troubleshooting → rework → validation support.

- Build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair prototype PCBAs supporting Powertrain development.
- Perform precision SMT and through-hole soldering, component replacement, engineering rework, jumper wires, trace repair, and prototype modifications.
- Fabricate custom wiring harnesses including wire preparation, crimping, solder splices, connector assembly, shielding, strain relief, heat shrinking, labeling, and cable routing.
- Assemble electromechanical prototypes including PCBAs, harnesses, batteries, motor controllers, sensors, power electronics, and other engineering hardware.
- Read and interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, assembly drawings, engineering change orders (ECOs), and bills of materials.
- Inspect solder joints, crimps, connectors, and assemblies to high-reliability workmanship standards while identifying defects and recommending improvements.
- Perform continuity testing, insulation resistance testing, hipot testing, and basic functional verification of engineering hardware.
- Support engineers during prototype bring-up, debugging, root cause investigations, and rapid design iterations.
- Maintain soldering stations, microscopes, crimp tooling, harness equipment, and laboratory organization to support efficient engineering development.
- Develop and improve assembly documentation, work instructions, fixture concepts, and standard operating procedures.
- Support laboratory inventory, consumables, calibration, and prototype hardware tracking.
- Promote safe handling of ESD-sensitive electronics, lithium batteries, and high-voltage electrical systems.

## What You'll Bring

- Experience building, modifying, or repairing electronic assemblies, PCBAs, wiring harnesses, or electromechanical systems appropriate to your experience level.
- Excellent hand soldering skills for SMT and through-hole electronics.
- Experience performing electronic rework using soldering irons, hot-air rework stations, microscopes, and precision rework equipment.
- Experience fabricating high-quality wiring harnesses including crimping, soldering, connector assembly, shielding, and cable management.
- Ability to read electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings, and assembly documentation.
- Familiarity with multimeters, oscilloscopes, continuity testers, hipot equipment, power supplies, and other laboratory instrumentation.
- Strong understanding of ESD controls, high-reliability electronic assembly practices, and prototype workmanship.
- IPC certifications such as IPC-A-610, J-STD-001, IPC/WHMA-A-620, or IPC-7711/7721 are preferred, or willingness to obtain certification.
- Strong attention to detail with pride in producing clean, reliable, flight-quality hardware.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary engineering teams.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting hourly range for this role is $42 - $52. This role includes overtime eligibility, stock options and full time benefits.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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