Senior​/Systems Modeling Engineer, Electric Propulsion in South San Francisco

Job Description 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.

You will be part of Zipline's Systems Modeling Team, which develops physics-based models used to architect, optimize, and validate Zipline's aircraft hardware and operational systems. The team works across electric propulsion, batteries, thermal systems, controls, aerodynamics, electrical engineering, and fleet operations to guide key engineering and product decisions.

In this technical leadership role, you will own and advance Zipline's electric propulsion modeling capability across motors, inverters, gearboxes and propellers. You will help define the technical roadmap and make architecture, sizing, and design decisions across current and future aircraft programs. You will drive the complete lifecycle, from first-principles model development through experimental characterization, validation, software deployment, and continuous improvement using laboratory and flight data.

The scope of this role extends beyond component-level physics to integrated aircraft and fleet behavior. You will connect propulsion performance, efficiency, thermal limits, acoustics, and reliability to system-level outcomes including aircraft range, payload and mission capability, energy consumption, operational throughput and cost per delivery.

• Own the electric-propulsion modeling roadmap, framework, validation standards, and deployment of validated models across aircraft programs.
• Lead trade studies that inform propulsion architecture, sizing, operating limits, thermal management, control strategies, and performance optimization.
• Develop and validate physics-based models of electric propulsion systems across multiple levels of fidelity, supporting aircraft simulation, hardware design, controls development, and fleet operations.
• Design and lead characterization campaigns for parameter identification and model validation, defining test requirements, instrumentation, and procedures for dynamometer, thrust stand, wind tunnel, and thermal testing.
• Build and own clean, modular, object-oriented modeling frameworks and engineering tools that are maintainable, reusable, and scalable across aircraft programs.
• Continuously improve model fidelity by comparing predictions against laboratory testing and production flight data, identifying model deficiencies, and deploying validated improvements that increase predictive accuracy across the fleet.
• Partner closely with electrical, mechanical, thermal, controls, flight test, manufacturing, and fleet operations teams to translate modeling insights into better products and engineering decisions.

• 8+ years of industry experience developing and validating physics-based models for electric powertrains, aerospace systems, electric vehicles, robotics, or other complex electro-mechanical systems.
• Strong heat-transfer fundamentals and experience building, parameterizing, and validating…