Software Engineer - Motor Firmware

Software Engineer – Motor Firmware
Location: South San Francisco

About Zipline
Zipline is transforming global logistics. Our instant-delivery system supplies life-saving products—from blood to vaccines—quickly, sustainably and equitably via autonomous aircraft, cutting CO₂ emissions and road congestion for billions of people.

Your Mission
As a Motor Firmware Engineer you will design, implement and validate high-performance control software for Zipline’s proprietary motor controllers in C++. You will collaborate daily—with electrical, mechanical and flight-software teams—to ship safe features fast.

Key Responsibilities

• Design robust estimators and controllers for propulsion and actuator motors
• Implement code on bare-metal ARM microcontrollers
• Write peripheral drivers for new controller hardware revisions
• Validate and regression-test on hardware-in-the-loop rigs
• Analyze fleet data (Python, Julia, MATLAB) to drive continual improvement
• Build vehicle simulations (Rust) and Monte-Carlo tests
• Own system-wide fault management with hardware & systems engineering
• Build automated monitoring tools to guide global fleet maintenance

What You’ll Bring

• Strong C/C++ fluency and interest in Rust and Python
• Experience with mechatronic control systems (hobby or professional)
• Comfort working across bare-metal, RTOS and embedded-Linux environments
• Analytical mindset, cross-disciplinary problem solving
• Clear communication with non-technical stakeholders
• Willingness to work on-site in South San Francisco, CA

Compensation & Benefits
Cash range: $160k–$215k per year plus equity, performance bonus and comprehensive health coverage.

Zipline is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion.