Senior Mechanical Engineer - Motors

Senior Mechanical Engineer - Motors

South San Francisco, California, USA

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 technology that includes robotics and autonomy, we are decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution, while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.

Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.

About The Role

We are seeking a Motors Mechanical Design Engineer to join our Powertrain Engineering team. This role will drive the mechanical design, analysis, and integration of high-performance electric motors for our next-generation autonomous delivery aircraft.

You will lead the design of rotor-stator assemblies, housings, controller enclosures, and interfaces that must meet extreme reliability and performance demands in a compact and mass-efficient form factor. The ideal candidate is a technically deep mechanical engineer with strong intuition for electromechanical systems, high-volume manufacturability, and dynamic thermal and structural environments.

What You'll Do

Own the mechanical design of electric motors and related assemblies from concept through to production. This includes rotor-stator subassemblies, cooling solutions, structural housings, and other components.

Collaborate closely with electromagnetic, structural, and thermal engineers to perform system level FEA/CAE. This includes modeling rotor dynamics and propeller interactions, motor thermals and magnetics, mounting vibrational loads, and more. You will also be responsible for ensuring products meet aircraft performance targets in transient and steady-state conditions through the use of CAE and/or hand calculations.

Lead design-for-manufacturing (DFM) and design-for-assembly (DFA) workstreams internally and externally. Work closely with supply chain and vendors on prototyping, validation, and high-volume production readiness.=

Define and help execute test plans for durability including load cycling, waterproofing, mechanical shock/vibration, and more. Analyze failures and iterate designs accordingly.

Work across electro-magnetics, power electronics, controls, firmware, and systems engineering to ensure successful integration and performance at the aircraft-level

Create detailed drawings and tolerance stack-ups for components and assemblies

Lead cost-down efforts for your designs to enable mass production and operations scaling

Minimum Qualifications

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or related field (M.S. preferred)

5+ years of experience designing mechanical components for electric machines or high-speed rotating equipment

Proficiency in CAD (e.g. NX, CATIA, or Creo) and structural/thermal FEA (e.g., ANSYS, Nastran, Abaqus)

Experience with materials selection and trade studies for complex thermally and mechanically constrained environments

Familiarity with industry standard motor assembly processes, manufacturing, and design guidelines

Demonstrated understanding of heat transfer and history of implementing integrated cooling strategies

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with high-torque density or high-efficiency PMSMs

Hands-on prototyping and test fixture development experience

Working knowledge of GD&T and tolerance stack analysis

Exposure to DFMEA and risk management frameworks

Familiarity with electromagnetic design principles and workflows

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW

The starting cash range for this role is $160,000 - $210,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.