Back to jobs
New

Mechanical Engineer, Camera & Optical Modules

South San Francisco, California, USA

About Zipline

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. 

Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.

Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe.

We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds.

About You and The Role 

Zipline builds and operates autonomous delivery systems that move critical goods reliably and safely. Cameras and optical modules provide critical perception inputs used by our aircraft and autonomous systems. Their mechanical design directly affects image quality, calibration stability, environmental robustness, electromagnetic compatibility, and ultimately the system’s ability to operate safely.

As a Mechanical Design Engineer for Camera and Optical Modules, you will own the mechanical architecture and detailed design of camera assemblies from early concept through validation, production ramp, and fleet operation. You will integrate image sensors, lenses, optical windows and filters, electronics, flexes, connectors, thermal paths, shielding, seals, and cleaning or contamination-control features into compact, lightweight, production-ready assemblies.

This is a hands-on individual-contributor role. You will work at the boundary of mechanical engineering, optics, electronics, perception, thermal design, and high-volume manufacturing. Your designs must preserve alignment and image quality through vibration, temperature cycling, shock, contamination, weather exposure, and years of field operation.

What You'll Do 

• Own end-to-end mechanical design for camera and optical assemblies, including requirements, architecture, concept selection, CAD, drawings, specifications, tolerance analysis, BOMs, and production release.
• Translate perception, optical, electrical, environmental, and aircraft-level requirements into measurable mechanical requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Establish datum, alignment, and calibration strategies to control lens-to-sensor focus, tilt, decenter, optical-axis orientation, stereo baseline, and camera-to-vehicle boresight.
• Develop tolerance models that correlate component and assembly variation with image quality and perception performance, including focus retention, modulation transfer, calibration accuracy, and field-of-view stability.
• Design lightweight housings, mounts, lens barrels, optical-window interfaces, thermal paths, shields, seals, vents, and connector interfaces for high-volume manufacturing.
• Integrate image sensors, lenses, filters, PCBAs, SerDes electronics, flex circuits, connectors, heaters, cleaning devices, and local sensors into robust camera modules.
• Design for environmental durability, including protection against rain, dust, mud, insects, condensation, fogging, icing, UV exposure, cleaning chemicals, and other contamination sources that affect optical performance.
• Evaluate contamination-control solutions, including hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings, protective windows, heaters, air-based cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and shutters.
• Define EMI shielding, grounding, and bonding strategies across housings, lens apertures, sensor PCBs, flex circuits, and connector interfaces, ensuring intentional grounding without resonant or floating conductive structures.
• Perform first-principles analysis, hand calculations, tolerance analysis, structural FEA, thermal analysis, and vibration and fatigue assessments to establish robust design margins.
• Define and support mechanical, environmental, and image-quality validation testing, including vibration, shock, thermal cycling, humidity, ingress protection, solar loading, contamination, and lifetime exposure testing.
• Lead investigations into prototype, production, and field failures, identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and verify reduced recurrence rates.
• Maintain comprehensive interface control documentation, design assumptions, engineering analyses, validation evidence, and production release records.

What You'll Bring

• Experience designing camera modules, optical instruments, perception sensors, robotics hardware, automotive electronics, aerospace hardware, or similarly compact electromechanical products.
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, including structural mechanics, thermal design, material selection, bolted joints, adhesive joints, sealing, vibration, fatigue, and tolerance analysis.
• Advanced proficiency in CAD, GD&T, datum strategy, engineering drawing release, and tolerance stack-up analysis.
• Practical understanding of camera and optical alignment concepts, including focus, tilt, decenter, boresight, field of view, stereo baseline, calibration stability, and image-quality sensitivity.
• Experience with manufacturing processes such as precision machining, die casting, injection molding, stamping, optical bonding, adhesive dispensing, coatings, and clean assembly.
• Proven track record of resolving complex mechanical, optical, thermal, or intermittent field failures through disciplined root-cause analysis.
• Experience collaborating directly with suppliers and manufacturing teams to improve yield, process capability, cost, and assembly repeatability.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including documenting engineering assumptions, residual risks, design margins, and production release recommendations.
• Ability to work onsite in South San Francisco with regular hands-on laboratory work.
• Willingness to travel to suppliers, manufacturers, and test locations as program needs dictate.
• Availability to provide occasional off-hours support during test campaigns, production ramps, or urgent field investigations.

Nice to Have 

• Experience with automotive, aerospace, drone, or robotic camera systems.
• Experience correlating mechanical variation with optical metrics such as MTF, distortion, focus, or calibration error.
• Experience with camera cleaning systems, optical coatings, condensation mitigation, or contamination detection.
• Familiarity with GMSL, MIPI, camera SerDes, local image processing, or high-speed camera interconnects.
• Experience designing EMI shielding and grounding solutions for camera modules and high-speed electronics.
• Experience developing mechanically stable stereo or multi-camera systems.
• Familiarity with automated optical alignment, calibration, and end-of-line image-quality testing.

What Success Looks Like

• Deliver camera modules that consistently meet image quality, calibration, thermal, mass, and environmental performance requirements across manufacturing variation and operational life.
• Ensure optical alignment and focus remain stable through vibration, shock, temperature cycling, contamination, and extended fleet use.
• Drive designs from development through production while achieving agreed-upon yield, cost, cycle time, and supplier capability targets.
• Develop cleaning and environmental protection features that measurably reduce obscured images, maintenance requirements, and camera-related aircraft downtime.
• Implement mechanical and EMI design improvements that reduce camera-related perception faults, GNSS desense risks, and field failures.
• Create scalable mechanical architectures that support future camera generations, sensor upgrades, and cost reductions without requiring complete redesigns.

What Else You Need To Know

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!

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.