Quality Manufacturing Engineer at Zipline in South San Francisco, CA

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 the Role

As a Quality Manufacturing Engineer on our manufacturing quality team, you will ensure every vehicle leaving the line meets Zipline’s high-performance standards. You will drive the disposition of inspection findings and non conformances, lead root-cause analyses, and implement corrective actions to boost yield and production rates. You’ll define and document inspection plans, rework procedures, and supplier feedback, partnering with cross-functional teams to close quality gaps.

What You’ll Do

• Serve as the first line of defense for part and vehicle performance: review and disposition discrepancies coming from all production processes: from receiving inspections to system end-of-line tests
• Lead root-cause analyses on one-off and recurring quality issues, driving corrective-action plans through to closure
• Collaborate with Supplier Industrialization to provide actionable feedback, qualify new vendors, and improve incoming part quality
• Define and document inspection plans, acceptance criteria, and rework procedures for common failures in mechanical, electrical, and composite systems
• Partner with Test and EOL Engineers to iterate on test-station designs, refine protocols, and streamline data capture
• Occasionally execute hands-on inspections or audits to validate new procedures and train Quality Technicians
• Analyze quality data and key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify trends, generate insights, and recommend process improvements
• Own change-control and revision of quality documentation—SOPs, work instructions, and technical drawings—to ensure current best practices are followed

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years in quality engineering, supplier development engineering, or equivalent roles within complex manufacturing environments
• Demonstrated expertise in root-cause analysis tools (5-Why, Fishbone, FMEA), control plan development, and corrective-action frameworks (8D, CAPA)
• Strong technical writing skills: able to craft clear inspection plans, work instructions, and supplier feedback reports
• Hands-on understanding of mechanical, electrical, and/or composite inspection techniques, plus familiarity with GD&T
• Experience partnering with suppliers on quality improvement and industrialization activities
• Excellent collaboration skills: able to influence across Engineering, Production, Procurement, and Supplier teams
• Continuous-improvement orientation with a track record of driving cycle-time reductions or yield improvements
• Experience using and navigating work tracking software such as Jira, and ERP systems such as Odoo

Other Requirements

• Ability to lift and move up to 25 lbs and stand for extended periods during inspection runs
• Willingness to wear necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) and adhere to clean‑room or lab protocols when required
• Flexibility to support multiple shift schedules or overtime during high‑volume receiving periods

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $105,000 - $140,000. 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.

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies.

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!