Senior/Staff Controls Engineer

The role

You will own system-performance analysis for vehicle designs and turn flight and fleet data into better models, design decisions, and operational capability. You will work with controls, flight test, hardware, manufacturing, and customer-facing teams.

What you will do

• Own dynamic models of complex vehicle systems and components within high-fidelity six-degree-of-freedom simulation.
• Build, test, analyze, and deploy robust, performant, and fault tolerant controls algorithms.
• Define analysis approaches connecting design choices, requirements, limitations, and environmental conditions to vehicle performance.
• Evaluate existing and future vehicle designs through simulation, flight-test data, and global fleet data.
• Improve simulation fidelity by reconciling model predictions with observed flight behavior.
• Lead technical recommendations for controls, vehicle, and system design improvements.
• Build reusable analysis tools to investigate performance questions and compare design options.
• Translate operational and customer insights into engineering priorities.

Required qualifications

• Demonstrated expertise in controls, flight dynamics, system identification, or modeling of complex physical systems.
• Experience developing and using high-fidelity simulations to evaluate system performance and guide engineering decisions.
• Experience analyzing experimental or flight-test data and using evidence to validate models or improve designs.
• Ability to lead ambiguous technical problems from framing through analysis, recommendation, and cross-functional execution.
• Strong engineering judgment about model assumptions, uncertainty, validation limits, and design tradeoffs.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills for explaining technical findings to engineering and operational partners.
• Comfort working closely with flight-test teams, global fleet data, and customer context.

Benefits

• Equity compensation
• Discretionary annual or performance bonuses
• Sales incentives
• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Paid time off

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.