Zipline
Mechanical Engineer, Camera & Optical Modules
$135K–$225K
South San Francisco, California, USA +1 · Full-time · Posted Jul 17, 2026
- Location
- South San Francisco, California, USA
South San Francisco, California, United States
About the job
Owns camera and optical-module mechanical design from concept through validation, production, and fleet operation for autonomous delivery systems.
What you'll do
- Develop camera assemblies, including architecture, CAD, drawings, tolerances, integration, and production release.
- Establish optical alignment and calibration strategies; analyze and test designs for image quality, environmental durability, and EMI performance.
- Investigate prototype, production, and field failures, lead root-cause analysis, and work with suppliers and manufacturing teams on corrective actions.
What they ask for
- Experience designing camera modules, optical instruments, perception sensors, robotics hardware, automotive electronics, aerospace hardware, or similarly compact electromechanical products.
- Strong mechanical fundamentals and advanced CAD, GD&T, datum-strategy, drawing-release, and tolerance-stack skills.
- Practical understanding of camera and optical alignment concepts, including focus, tilt, decenter, boresight, field of view, stereo baseline, and calibration stability.
- Experience with relevant manufacturing processes and resolving mechanical, optical, thermal, or field failures through root-cause analysis.
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.
Pay
$135,000 - $225,000 USD (starting cash range; target starting cash)
Tools
CAD, GD&T, SerDes, GMSL, MIPI, FEA, MTF
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative