Field Service Engineer – SMI (Structures, Mechanisms & Integration)

About Zipline

Zipline’s mission is to provide every human on Earth with instant access to vital medical supplies. We believe that where you live should never dictate whether you live. We are at the forefront of a logistics revolution, using autonomous aircraft to deliver just-in-time, life-saving medical supplies at national scale in several countries and expanding around the world. Are you interested in building a system that 500 million people will depend on with their lives?

About the Role

Field Service Engineers at Zipline are the tip of the spear in identifying and eliminating failure modes across our global operations. You will be the technical authority for your subsystem (Avionics, Ground Systems, Powertrain, or SMI), working across hardware and software boundaries to drive improvements into design, manufacturing, and operational practices.

You’ll combine hands-on troubleshooting, deep systems knowledge, and cross-functional communication to debug and resolve failures. Whether it’s a GPS dropout, a motor burnout, a power spike, or a hinge crack, you’ll be responsible for finding it, understanding it, and working with engineering to fix it permanently.

This is a high-trust, high-autonomy role for engineers who want to own the health and performance of our hardware in the real world.

What You'll Do

Core Responsibilities

• Own the implementation of design and processes improvements that address field reliability, reduce downtime, and support long-term economic goals
  
  
• Investigate field failures by combining data analysis, log review, and physical failure analysis
  
  
• Perform root cause analysis using first principles, 5-Whys, and fault tree methods
  
  
• Create and lead containment actions, corrective actions, and permanent design/process fixes
  
  
• Provide technical leadership during field escalations, with hands-on support as needed
  
  
• Build tooling and diagnostics to proactively monitor health of fleet systems
  
  
• Influence DFM, DFT, and maintainability for next-generation designs
  
  
• Act as the technical bridge between Ops, Engineering, and Manufacturing
  
  

SMI 

• Troubleshoot and root cause structures and mechanism performance issues in flight: structural hardware failures, mechanism wear, damage, & underperformance, and fatigue/life damage.
• Develop software and dashboards to track critical flight metrics, analyze large datasets of flight performance, and automated log review and notification. Python is a must.
• Work with field and maintenance teams to develop rapid and robust maintenance and inspection procedures that evolve with our understanding of the hardware.
• Drive corrective actions for SMI hardware along with design engineers including design changes, process changes, and checkout and detection processes.

 

What You’ll Bring

• 2–7 years of experience in field engineering, failure analysis, reliability, or hardware validation
• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience
• Strong fundamentals in in embedded systems: electrical, mechanical, or electromechanical
• Demonstrated ability to investigate and resolve complex, intermittent field issues
• Familiarity with diagnostic tools: multimeters, oscilloscopes, CAN/serial bus analyzers, thermography, mechanical inspection, etc.
• Deep technical knowledge in at least one of: avionics, industrial/mechatronics systems, power electronics, motors, embedded motor control, batteries, carbon-fiber structures
• Strong data fluency; able to analyze large volumes of logs/telemetry using Python, SQL, MATLAB or similar
• Excellent written and verbal communication for cross-functional technical reporting
• Strong systems mindset with a bias for fast iteration, field experimentation, and permanent fixes
• Experience in aerospace, automotive, drones, robotics, or high-reliability industries
• Knowledge of FTA, DFMEA, PFMEA
• Hands-on experience in design validation testing (HALT, thermal shock, vibration)
• Familiarity with remote tooling: OTA updates, remote debug, telemetry systems
• Experience working in high-ownership environments and emerging markets

Why Join Zipline?

As a Field Service Engineer at Zipline, you won’t be sitting on the sidelines. You’ll be embedded where it matters, with real accountab