Senior Embedded Software Engineer – Platform 1

About Zipline
Zipline is transforming logistics: we build, manufacture and operate the world’s first instant delivery and logistics system with zero emissions, serving all humans equally—no matter where they are. From Rwanda’s national blood service and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution to Walmart’s on-demand home delivery and mobile U.S. healthcare, we make supply chains faster, more reliable and sustainable.

Your Role
The Field Systems Engineering (FSE) team sits between Engineering and Operations. As a Senior Embedded Software Engineer you own the performance and reliability of our long-range drone platform “Platform 1”. Working side-by-side with global flight-operations teams, you identify pain points, lead anomaly investigations and deliver data-driven improvements—from concept to safe deployment. You coordinate multi-team projects and shape the strategic software roadmap.

Responsibilities
- Optimise a complex, real-time, safety-critical system for reliability and maintainability
- Travel to international operations centres for on-site analysis
- Become the expert on existing flight-software stack, tooling and deployment pipeline
- Triage and prioritise emergent technical issues balancing urgency and sound judgment
- Perform data-driven analysis with Databricks for diagnostics and impact assessment
- Design, coordinate and execute real-world test campaigns
- Collaborate closely with global Operations, Engineering and Regulatory teams

Qualifications
- 8+ years in safety-critical embedded software (aerospace, robotics, medical devices, autonomous vehicles)
- Strong proficiency in a statically-typed language: Rust, C++, C
- Experience with Git, testing, CI/CD and data analysis in Python, SQL or MATLAB
- High sense of ownership, excellent communication skills, willingness to travel (nights/weekends, international sites)
- Authorization to work in the US

Location & Compensation
In-office position at our South San Francisco, CA headquarters. Salary range: USD 160,000 – 200,000 (annual gross), plus equity, bonus and comprehensive benefits. Equal-opportunity employer—diversity is our strength.