Zipline
Senior/Staff Controls Engineer
$180K–$230K
South San Francisco, California, USA +1 · Staff · Full-time · Posted Jul 20, 2026
- Location
- South San Francisco, California, USA
South San Francisco, California, United States
About the job
Owns vehicle-performance analysis and controls improvements for autonomous delivery aircraft using simulation, flight-test data, and global fleet data.
What you'll do
- Develop and validate vehicle models, controls algorithms, and reusable analysis tools.
- Evaluate vehicle designs and simulation predictions using flight-test and fleet data; identify performance gaps and tradeoffs.
- Lead cross-functional technical recommendations to improve vehicle design, reliability, and operational capability.
What they ask for
- Expertise in controls, flight dynamics, system identification, or modeling complex physical systems.
- Experience developing and using high-fidelity simulations to evaluate performance and guide engineering decisions.
- Experience analyzing experimental or flight-test data to validate models or improve designs.
- Ability to lead ambiguous technical problems through analysis, recommendations, and cross-functional execution.
Pay
$180,000 - $230,000 USD starting cash
Tools
high-fidelity six-degree-of-freedom simulation
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative