NPI Technician Team Lead

The role

You will lead and work alongside Engineering Technicians on the build floor. You will own build readiness, daily execution priorities, technical blocker resolution, recovery quality, and technician capability to deliver high-quality hardware.

What you will do

• Lead daily prototype and NPI builds, set priorities, and coordinate resources.
• Maintain build readiness, configuration control, and traceability.
• Provide hands-on leadership in assembly, troubleshooting, rework, and repair.
• Coach technicians on safety, workmanship, and documentation.
• Develop work instructions and standard workflows.
• Support equipment bring-up and validate equipment and process readiness.
• Partner with Engineering on design-for-assembly feedback and engineering changes.
• Improve manufacturing quality, reliability, efficiency, cost, and cycle time.
• Hire, onboard, and develop technicians through coaching and career planning.
• Keep safety training current and document EHS incidents.

Required qualifications

• 5+ years in manufacturing, production, NPI, or prototype builds
• 2+ years leading or supervising technical personnel
• Experience managing low-volume, high-variability builds with competing priorities and changing requirements
• Strong hardware assembly, troubleshooting, and repair skills
• Ability to use hand tools, assembly tooling, and manufacturing equipment
• Ability to interpret mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, BOMs, work instructions, build plans, and equipment specifications
• Experience developing processes, bringing up equipment, hiring and developing talent, and supporting products from NPI through scaled production
• Experience with production transfers, scale-up, or reducing manufacturing costs and cycle times
• Familiarity with ERP, MES, or PLM systems
• Familiarity with continuous improvement methods such as 5S, Lean, or Six Sigma
• Ability to define performance metrics and use them to improve team execution and capacity planning
• Strong organization, reliability, attention to detail, and independent judgment

About the company

Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. They design, build, and operate an autonomous logistics system to deliver food, medicine, and essential goods.