Zipline · 5 days ago
Senior Electrical Engineer - Avionics (RF)
South San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$160K/yr - $200K/yr
3+ years expZipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move, focusing on equitable access to essential services globally. The Senior Electrical Engineer - Avionics (RF) will lead a team in designing robust RF communication and navigation systems for their drone delivery service, ensuring high performance and reliability in challenging environments.
DeliveryDronesElectric VehicleHome Health CareLogisticsRoboticsSupply Chain Management
Responsibilities
Join a small but mighty team of RF engineers owning RF communications at Zipline. This includes Zip to Zip, Zip to Dock, Zip to Droid, and Zip to GA Aircraft. Today, we use tightly integrated 802.11, cellular, ADS-B, and GNSS radio systems
Develop and implement RF engineering processes to ensure high quality on tight, deterministic timelines
Provide technical leadership in system level design spanning RF link budgets, interference analysis, and RF MAC layer
Define, trade, revisit, and update vehicle RF architecture. Optimize at the integrated vehicle and fleet system levels
Design radios, amplifiers, filters, and antennas to meet RF architecture and requirements
Develop confirmation tests, including functional, end of line, and system level tests to ensure the RF systems meet all the necessary specifications
Coordinate regulatory and industry certification for domestic and international markets
Coordinate within the Avionics and Ground Systems teams to implement the RF systems in the aircraft highly integrated flight computer as well as the Zip Dock
Coordinate across teams such as GNC, Aero, and Perception to determine requirements for the RF system performance, identify trades, and ensure reliable operation for downstream systems
Ongoing engineering to successfully sustain the operation of existing avionics systems in our existing fleet of thousands of aircraft
Qualification
Required
Demonstrated skill building and leading a team of engineers to achieve ambitious goals, with proven success
3-10 years of experience in RF engineering roles
Past success developing electronics for critical systems in fields such as automotive, aerospace, transportation, or medical devices
Deep design experience in one or more of the following areas: RF system design and analysis, antenna design, or practical implementation of complex RF systems
Strong understanding of communication system fundamentals including linear systems, signal processing, and communication theory
Familiarity with RF design tools such as ADS, CST, Microwave Office, MATLAB, or Simulink
Enthusiasm for collaborating in a fast paced, cross-functional environment
Clear communication skills and the ability to explain technical challenges and solutions to fellow engineers and non-engineers alike
Bachelors and/or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, with focus on RF Comms and Design
Must be eligible to work in the US
Must be able to work in person at Zipline's South San Francisco office
Benefits
Equity compensation
Discretionary annual or performance bonuses
Sales incentives
Benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance
Paid time off
Company
Zipline
Zipline designs, manufactures, and operates drones to deliver vital medical products.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Zipline has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (54)
2024 (39)
2023 (29)
2022 (20)
2021 (16)
2020 (3)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$971MKey Investors
U.S. Department of StateThe Rise FundKatalyst Ventures
2025-11-25Grant· $150M
2023-04-28Series F· $330M
2021-06-30Series E· $250M
Leadership Team
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton
Co-founder & CEO
Keenan Wyrobek
Founder, CTO and Product Architect
Recent News
felicis.com
2025-12-26
Company data provided by crunchbase