Head of Engineering Finance

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 You and The Role  

This is a key leadership role within the Finance team, serving as the core partner to our Head of Engineering, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, your primary objective will be to ensure our new hardware and software product roadmaps achieve critical unit economics milestones. Sustainable unit economics at affordable pricing are essential to achieving our mission to serve all humans equally.

You will build and lead a world-class product finance team, excelling in enabling timely, interdisciplinary product tradeoff decisions to drive financial outcomes. A critical aspect of this role will be driving efforts across our design and supply chain teams to optimize hardware and manufacturing costs, ensuring products are both cost-effective and sustainable.

You will collaborate with cross-functional teams—including engineering, go-to-market, operations, supply chain, and regulatory—to anticipate challenges and identify opportunities. Additionally, you will manage program and departmental budgets, ensuring every dollar is invested wisely to maximize impact.

The ideal candidate is a quick learner of technical hardware and software details, a skilled team builder, and passionate about fostering strong relationships at all levels of the organization.

What You'll Do  

• Develop frameworks that allow for thoughtful decision making and prioritization of our product roadmap 
• Oversee the development and execution of a very significant R&D budget; manage product/engineering resource planning, capital investments, and other program spending
• Lead with the Engineering and Supply Chain teams to develop and implement a long-term cost reduction strategy and roadmap
• Build a world-class product finance team
• Serve as a general thought partner to product/engineering leadership and other internal stakeholders on shaping company strategy

What You'll Bring 

• You have 10+ years of experience in product/engineering finance, ideally with a heavy operational or hardware/software component. 
• You have a track record in building lean, high-performing teams
• You have an exceptional ability to effectively collaborate with and influence at all levels of an organization 
• You are comfortable working in cross-functional environments, able to navigate seamlessly between different functions, skillsets, and perspectives
• You are data-driven but also committed to supporting fast-paced, “good, not perfect” decision-making
• You can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, to build strong relationships with Zipline teams and external stakeholders
• You have strong project management and organizational skills
• You are an excel wizard and can build and manage complex financial models 
• You have a solid knowledge of financial statements, accounting principles, and investment analysis

What Else You Need to Know   

This role is an office role based out of our South San Francisco office. Relocation is available should you need it!    The starting cash range for this role is $180,000 - $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; overtime pay; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vis