Senior Electrical Engineer - Ground Systems

Senior Electrical Engineer - Ground Systems

South San Francisco, CA | Ground Systems | Full Time

About Zipline
Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are.

From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments, and consumers.

The technology is complex but the idea is simple: A teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through our robotics and autonomy platforms, we’re decarbonizing delivery, reducing road congestion and emissions, and increasing access to essential goods worldwide.

About the Role
Zipline is seeking a senior-level electrical engineer to lead the design and development of high-performance power electronics systems that support our drone charging and docking infrastructure.

The Ground Systems team at Zipline is in charge of all the infrastructures on the ground supporting our autonomous delivery drones with automatic docking, battery charging, thermal management, ground communication and preflight check. This role is central to enable our next generation of drone logistics, solving complex challenges in power distribution, power conversion, battery charging, high performance microprocessor, high-speed network communication and system-level integration.

You'll bring deep technical expertise in power electronics to help shape Zipline’s global infrastructure as we scale.

In addition, you’ll work closely with cross-functional engineering teams to own the electrical system development from concept to production. This is a hands‑on engineering role, ideal for someone who wants to push the limits of hardware in the real world.

• Own the electrical design of Zipline’s drone charging systems for volume production through a full design cycle including requirements, prototype, schematic capture, layout, and validation.
• Shape the architecture of Zipline’s next generation product, making impactful design decisions daily, while working with a high level of independence.
• Lead trade studies, understand competing design priorities, and provide direction and clarity for burning down risk.
• Proactively seek out opportunities for improvement in system and component level design.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with reliability, mechanical, embedded, and systems engineers in all stages of development, including:
• Concept:
  System requirement, specification, tradeoff
• Design:
  Schematic capture, PCB layout, system integration
• Validation:
  Function and reliability test
• Production: DFM, design drawings, manufacturing, EOL test, certification
• Deployment:
  Troubleshoot field issues, develop rapid mitigations, roll learnings into future design revisions
• Travel occasionally to support supplier and manufacturer visit, product deployment, and field validation

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering or related discipline
• 5+ years of hands‑on experience designing and testing power electronics hardware (AC‑DC, DC‑DC, battery charging, etc.)
• Strong understanding of high‑voltage power semiconductors like SiC or Si MOSFETs
• Deep knowledge of circuit topologies for AC‑DC and DC‑DC power conversion
• Design experience with MCU and digital communications (Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART)
• Proficiency in schematic capture, PCB layout, and simulation tools (Altium, SPICE, etc.)
• Familiarity with UL, IEC, and other electrical safety standards
• Strong lab skills and familiarity with test equipment like oscilloscope, digital multimeter, power analyzer, LCR meter, function generator, spectrum analyzer, etc
• Experience with EMI filter design and inductor/transformer design is a strong plus
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across engineering disciplines
• Must be eligible to work in the U.S.
• Must be able to work…