{"id":3463310,"url":"https://alion.io/job/zipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation","title":"Senior Electrical Test Engineer, Hardware Validation","company":{"id":15878,"name":"Zipline","domain":"zipline.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/zipline","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":84,"open_postings":18,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.444,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":68,"computed_at":"2026-11-08T05:47:12Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["South San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":185000,"max":245000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":245000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-17T23:21:56Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-15","last_verified_at":"2026-11-08T16:47:58Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":113,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":113},"description":"About Zipline\nZipline 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. \nOur 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.\nOur 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.\nWe 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.\nAbout You and The Role \nWe are hiring EETest engineers across multiple different teams; Avionics and Ground Systems. We are a hardware engineering organization with Mechanical, Electrical, Embedded Systems and Test Engineering and are responsible for the design of all flight hardware and operations equipment; this includes Safety Systems, Primary Structure, Launcher, Recovery System, Battery Chargers, Power System, Network System and countless other mechanisms critical to the function of the vehicle and ground systems. We are working on a product that can be deployed in hours, integrate seamlessly with our customers, and operate without human intervention while being deployed worldwide at scale.\nThis is a hands-on individual-contributor role spanning test strategy, tester design, instrumentation, experimental execution, data analysis, manufacturing test and failure investigation. You will work closely with design engineers while maintaining independent judgment about test adequacy, product risk, and release readiness.\nWhat You'll Do \nOwn end-to-end validation of PCBAs, avionics products, and power electronics from prototype through fleet deployment.\nTranslate product requirements, hazard analyses, field conditions, customer workflows, and known failure modes into measurable test requirements and pass/fail criteria.\nDevelop verification plans with clear coverage, traceability, sample sizes, margins, acceptance criteria, and exit gates.\nDesign, analyze, build, commission, and maintain test stands, fixtures, environmental setups, automated cycle rigs, and representative system test articles.\nSelect and integrate instrumentation such as load cells, torque sensors, displacement sensors, accelerometers, strain gauges, thermocouples, cameras, current sensors, and data-acquisition hardware.\nProduce drawings, tolerance analyses, safety reviews, BOMs, assembly instructions, calibration procedures, and maintenance documentation for test equipment.\nValidate interactions among electrical hardware, actuators, sensors, electronics, and embedded controls.\nAutomate test execution, data collection, health monitoring, fault detection, and reporting using Python or equivalent tools.\nDefine sample sizes, acceleration factors, confidence levels, and statistical acceptance criteria that produce defensible reliability evidence.\nCorrelate bench and accelerated tests with field telemetry, returned hardware, service records, and observed environmental conditions.\nIdentify gaps between laboratory tests and field failures, then update test profiles to improve fidelity.\nLead structured failure investigations using physical inspection, teardown, dimensional measurements, logs, instrumentation, and fault-tree methods.\nDistinguish product failures from fixture, instrumentation, software, setup, and operator-induced failures.\nPartner with Mechanical, Electrical, Embedded Software, Systems, Reliability, Manufacturing, Operations, and Safety to drive failures to root cause and permanent corrective action.\nEstablish regression tests that detect hardware and software changes affecting mechanism performance, safety, or reliability.\nPresent test evidence, unresolved risks, and release recommendations clearly during design and readiness reviews.\nWork directly with suppliers and manufacturing partners to validate components, tooling, processes, and production changes.\nMentor engineers and technicians in fixture design, instrumentation, experimental methods, test execution, and failure analysis.\nImprove test throughput, repeatability, automation, lab utilization, and failure-to-answer time.\nWhat You'll Bring\nProven ownership of electrical or electromechanical hardware validation through development, qualification, production ramp, and field deployment.\nDeep hands-on experience designing and building electrical test rigs, fixtures, instrumented assemblies, and automated cycle-test systems.\nStrong electrical engineering fundamentals.\nPractical experience selecting, installing, calibrating, and troubleshooting sensors and data-acquisition systems.\nExperience validating mechanisms containing actuators, PCBAs, harnesses, and embedded controls.\nDemonstrated expertise in experimental design, measurement uncertainty, repeatability, sample-size selection, accelerated testing, and statistical confidence.\nExperience developing automated test and analysis tools using Python or an equivalent language.\nTrack record finding root causes for complex or intermittent failures and verifying that corrective actions prevent recurrence.\nExperience testing environmental durability, high-cycle mechanisms, structural loads, abuse conditions, and fault recovery.\nAbility to translate imperfect field data into representative laboratory tests and actionable engineering conclusions.\nExperience working with design teams, suppliers, manufacturing, and technicians to execute test programs under aggressive schedules.\nClear written and verbal communication, including concise test plans, reproducible reports, and evidence-based readiness recommendations.\nLocation and logistics: this role is in person in South San Francisco with regular work in the lab. Travel to suppliers, manufacturers, test locations, and deployment sites is expected based on program needs.\nPeriodic off-hours support may be required during critical builds, test campaigns, production ramps, and field escalations.\nTraits: Curiosity, disciplined experimental practice, skepticism of weak evidence, calm troubleshooting, and willingness to remain with a problem until it is understood.\nWhat Success Looks Like\nDelivered repeatable test systems and validation evidence that enable assemblies to meet their reliability and release targets.\nIdentified critical failure modes before fleet deployment and verified effective corrective actions.\nImproved correlation between accelerated testing and field performance.\nReduced test cycle time, manual effort, and failure-to-answer time through better fixtures, automation, and analysis.\nEstablished reusable test methods that increased validation coverage and supported production and fleet expansion.\nWhat Else You Need To Know \nThe starting cash range for this role is $185,000 - $245,000. 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; overtime pay; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.\nZipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.\nWe 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!\nVoluntary Self-Identification\nFor government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.\nAs set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.","description_format":"text","description_chars":9448,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Drones & UAVs","Delivery","Logistics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-29T14:36:18Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"adverts_offering_sponsorship_24m":3,"sanctioned_now":false,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 63 · green card filings: 13","filings_12m":63,"filings_prev_12m":47,"green_card_filings_12m":13,"median_offered_wage_usd":170658,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-08T10:45:15+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)","Alion: sponsorship offered in the employer's own job adverts (24 months)"],"filings_for_role_12m":4}],"liveness":{"score":29,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.797,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":113,"expected_fill_days":68,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-08T05:47:12Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":245000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/zipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/zipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-08T19:30:46Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":40779,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-09T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":15878},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=15878"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fzipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fzipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fzipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/zipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fzipline-senior-electrical-test-engineer-hardware-validation"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3463310}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"zipline.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3463310},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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