Simulation Engineer - Avionics

Zipline Simulation Engineer for Avionics

Zipline builds autonomous aircraft that operate in demanding real-world environments where electronic systems must continue to function through vibration, shock, temperature extremes, weather exposure, manufacturing variation, and years of fleet operation. The reliability of an electronic module depends not only on its electrical design, but also on its structural integrity, thermal performance, packaging architecture, material selection, fastening strategy, and interactions with surrounding assemblies.

As a Simulation Engineer for Avionics, you will own the simulation strategy that enables robust electronic hardware from concept through production and fleet deployment. You will develop structural, thermal, and multi-physics models that predict how avionics, compute modules, sensors, communication systems, and power electronics behave throughout their operating life. Your work will directly influence architecture decisions, design margins, manufacturing approaches, and validation strategies before hardware is built.

You will work closely with Mechanical, Electrical, RF, EMC, Optical, Systems, Reliability, Manufacturing, and Test engineers. Rather than serving as a downstream analysis resource, you will help drive design decisions through first-principles engineering, high-fidelity simulation, and correlation with physical testing.

• Own the simulation strategy for electronic modules and electromechanical assemblies throughout concept development, design, validation, production ramp, and field support.
• Develop structural finite element models for electronics housings, PCB assemblies, brackets, connectors, flex circuits, fasteners, heat sinks, shields, and integrated avionics modules.
• Perform static structural analyses including contact mechanics, bolt preload, fastener retention, housing deformation, sealing interfaces, component stresses, and structural load paths.
• Perform dynamic analyses including modal, harmonic response, random vibration, shock, and fatigue to evaluate durability throughout transportation, manufacturing, and flight environments.
• Develop thermal simulations for electronics cooling using conduction, convection, and radiation to ensure components remain within operating limits during all mission phases.
• Support development of cooling architectures including blowers, ducts, heat sinks, vapor chambers, thermal interface materials, cold plates, and enclosure ventilation.
• Evaluate thermo-mechanical behavior caused by coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch across PCBAs, electronic packages, thermal interface materials, adhesives, housings, and structural interfaces.
• Predict PCB deformation, solder joint loading, package stresses, connector retention, and mechanical interactions resulting from thermal cycling and environmental loading.
• Perform coupled structural and thermal analyses to understand interactions between temperature, deformation, preload loss, contact pressure, and structural stiffness.
• Correlate simulation results with laboratory testing including strain measurements, displacement measurements, vibration testing, thermal testing, environmental qualification, and field observations.
• Build simplified analytical models and hand calculations to verify simulation assumptions and establish design intuition before developing detailed numerical models.
• Support design reviews by identifying mechanical, thermal, and reliability risks before hardware release.
• Work directly with suppliers to obtain material properties, validate manufacturing assumptions, and evaluate production variation within simulation models.
• Investigate prototype, production, and field failures using simulation, physical testing, inspection data, and root-cause analysis to identify failure mechanisms and implement corrective actions.

• Proven experience performing structural and thermal simulation of complex electromechanical or electronic systems from concept through production.
• Strong fundamentals in structural mechanics, heat transfer, materials science, fatigue, vibration, contact mechanics, and thermal expansion.
• Experience performing linear…