Staff Software Integration Engineer – Autonomous Systems

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. About You and the Role Are you a deeply technical software engineer drawn to the complexity of real-world autonomy systems? Do you thrive at the intersection of robotics, embedded software, and systems integration , where your code directly influences high-stakes, physical outcomes? At Zipline, we operate the world’s largest autonomous delivery network—and we’re building the tools and infrastructure to scale that system safely, globally, and intelligently. We're looking for a Staff Software Integration Engineer to take ownership of deeply integrated autonomy features and push them across the finish line into production. This role is not about building web apps or backend dashboards —it's about working at the frontier of autonomous flight: bridging mission logic, real-time systems, autonomy behaviors, and validation frameworks. You’ll work across planning, perception, and controls subsystems, shaping how autonomous features like emergency landings, route adaptations, and dynamic delivery constraints behave in flight. Your work will integrate embedded aircraft software with simulation infrastructure, telemetry systems, and flight operations to ensure features launch with robust performance, measurable safety, and high availability . What You'll Do Drive system-level integration of complex autonomy features , spanning embedded flight software, real-time behavior logic, and mission-critical runtime systems. Own feature development from architecture to field validation , collaborating with autonomy, controls, and platform software teams to define robust, testable solutions. Implement and maintain core vehicle software in Rust and C++ , with a focus on performance, safety, and observability in safety-critical environments. Build and scale the infrastructure required to validate, simulate, and deploy autonomy behaviors across real-world fleets and global flight zones. Develop tooling to support software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing for rapid iteration and safe experimentation. Partner with systems engineering and autonomy teams to define real-world success metrics and build the interfaces and logging infrastructure to track them. Provide technical leadership across the autonomy organization—driving best practices, elevating integration quality, and mentoring engineers on deep-stack ownership. What You'll Bring 10+ years of experience delivering production software in robotics, aerospace, autonomous vehicles, or other safety-critical embedded systems . Deep fluency in Rust, C++, or C with a focus on high-performance, fault-tolerant applications. Strong systems-thinking mindset, with demonstrated ability to integrate cross-disciplinary software under tight constraints (e.g. timing, safety, power). Hands-on experience with robotics testing infrastructure , including SIL/HIL , log replay tooling, scenario validation, or embedded simulation. A track record of success building and deploying autonomy features into real-world robots, drones, or vehicles operating under noisy, dynamic conditions. Comfort navigating and owning ambiguity in hardware/software co-design environments , defining clear interfaces and iteration strategies from high-level goals. Passion for enabling robust autonomy development—through testable code , clear debugging signals, and excellent internal tooling. 🚫 Not the Right Fit If: Your experience is primarily in web development , backend services , or UI/front-end engineering . You’re looking to build general-purpose cloud platforms or apps rather than deeply integrated, flight-critical software. WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW    This will be a hybrid role based out of our South San Francisco HQs.  The starting cash range for this role is  $210,000 - $265,000 . 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. Zipline 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. 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!