Flyzipline

Manager, Aerodynamics

South San Francisco, California, USA

Sponsorship not specified$10k-$20kDetected 1 day ago

LogisticsCATIACFDCadenceMechanical DesignLeadership

About the role

About Zipline Zipline is the world's largest and most experienced drone delivery service.
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.
The drone is only 15% of what we've built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations.

Own aerodynamic performance and aeroacoustic targets for all active vehicle programs and fleet upgrades
Lead and grow a 5-9 person aerodynamics team, set roadmaps, hire, and run weekly design reviews and sprint milestones tied to flight-test campaigns and program release gates.
Build, validate, and maintain the aerodynamic plant models used by flight controls, performance, and systems teams
own model versioning and error budgets tied to fleet performance metrics (range, climb rate, cruise efficiency, acoustic footprint, and margin to safety limits).
Design, specify, and oversee execution of aero test assets: wind tunnel models, instrumented flight-test vehicles, bench rigs, and propeller test stands
translate test results into model updates and design fixes within program schedules.
Deliver advanced surfacing (external and internal wetted geometry) as release‑quality inputs to mechanical design and manufacturing
respecting manufacturability, assembly interfaces, and maintenance access in designs.
Lead propeller aerodynamic and acoustic trade studies to minimize noise while meeting thrust and efficiency targets
own trade decisions, documentation and risk mitigations.

You'll be a senior engineering leader responsible for delivering the aerodynamic and acoustic performance that make Zipline's autonomous delivery aircraft fleet a magical customer experience.
regular domestic travel to flight-test facilities and operational sites is required.
based in South San Francisco (required)
You must be eligible to work in the US.
Minimum 6+ years industry experience in applied aerodynamics/aircraft design with at least 3 years in a leadership role or clear readiness to lead a 5-9 person team; hands‑on contributor background required.

This listing is sourced directly from Flyzipline's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.