About Zipline
Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are. From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments and consumers. The technology is complex but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through our technology that includes robotics and autonomy, we are decarbonizing delivery, decreasing road congestion, and reducing fossil fuel consumption and air pollution, while providing equitable access to billions of people and building a more resilient global supply chain.
Join Zipline and help us to make good on our promise to build an equitable and more resilient global supply chain for billions of people.
About the Role
We're seeking an experienced leader to head our Linux Avionics Software team. You will lead a strong team of engineers working across Linux kernel-space, user-space software, device drivers (cellular, GPS, IMU, networking), and the real-time scheduling system that enables our autonomous drone fleet operations. Your role spans the entire software stack from embedded Linux kernel modifications and drivers, to the user-space tools and libraries that ensure reliability and performance in demanding flight environments. We are looking for someone excited about guiding the team to build robust, safety-critical systems that operate seamlessly under challenging real-world conditions.
What You'll Do
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of embedded software engineers, setting ambitious goals and fostering a high-performance culture
- Oversee the software architecture spanning kernel-space to user-space, including Yocto-based Linux kernel BSP development
- Drive technical decisions and establish best practices for validating a complex software stack
- Collaborate cross-functionally with other software teams, hardware teams, flight testing, and customer operations
- Lead the implementation of safety-critical avionics systems on our flight computers: communication buses, sensors, radios, and peripheral device drivers
- Build a robust and performant platform that supports higher level software services to run reliably in real time: navigation, perception, planning, and controls
What You'll Bring
- Proven experience as an engineering leader, successfully managing and scaling high-performing teams
- Experience with complex, safety-critical embedded systems
- Strong technical expertise in Linux kernel and user-space development
- Solid software engineering and systems architecture skills, with expertise in strongly-typed languages, our stack is Rust applications and Python tooling
- A systems-oriented mindset focused on reliability, fault tolerance, and optimization for complex, distributed embedded systems
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Detail-oriented approach to system safety validation and robust deployment at scale
- A strong advocate for the team’s productivity: knowing when to invest in great tooling, process that speeds the team up, and designs that make the codebase better over time
What Else You Need to Know
The starting cash range for this role is $200,000 - $235,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.
Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies.
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!
