Hardware Test Engineering Manager

About the Role

We are seeking two Hardware Test Engineering Manager roles to lead the strategy, development, and execution of hardware validation and test activities across the product lifecycle. These roles require hands-on technical expertise and people leadership, ensuring high-quality, reliable hardware products delivered on schedule. The two roles within Powertrain team are:

• Energy and Power: batteries, cells, charging, power distribution, energy safety
• Electric Drivetrain: electric propulsion, motors, propellers, electromechanical systems

You will be responsible for leading a team of multidisciplinary engineers, developing world-class test methods, equipment, and execution of hardware testing. This role is for the full lifecycle of hardware development, from performance testing to find the limits of the hardware, system-level performance tests, durability and environmental survivability, and the development of automated hardware testing for production line applications.

You will act as a player-coach who has an area of expertise in either batteries or electric propulsion, and is comfortable providing strategic vision as well as being in the weeds of the team’s designs, builds, analysis and reviews. You will help Zipline evolve its hardware testing philosophy and capacity, and grow the team in the process. The success of this team is vital to the success of Zipline overall.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of test engineers and specialists responsible for powertrain testing
• This group is responsible for:
  • Demonstrating the ultimate capability of powertrain hardware, including batteries, cells, power distribution units, electric propulsion units, and electromechanical actuators
  • Contributing to the overall intuition of the engineering team through close involvement in design reviews, prototyping, and testing of components and assemblies
  • Designing, building, operating, purchasing and maintaining test equipment
  • Developing strategies and test campaigns to efficiently evaluate function, reliability and safety of critical components and assemblies
  • Developing calculations for damage and fatigue to replicate flight conditions in ground-based test methods
  • Root causing failures alongside design engineers and working to create elegant solutions
  • Recreate system-level effects including off-nominal scenarios and safety tests
• Raise the bar for the existing team by creating a vision for the future of the team based on company goals, and implementing strategies to achieve outcomes
• Develop laboratory grade test setups for either of:
  • Battery Testing including safety testing and thermal runaway testing
  • Cell Testing for cell cycle life and performance optimization
  • Motor Testing including dynamometer development and motor characterization
  • Propeller Testing including aerodynamic characterization
• Scope out areas where growth is needed and make key hires that revolutionize the quality and pace of work
• Leverage your technical leadership experience in relevant fields to establish a team culture that biases towards action and tests ideas to achieve radically simple and reliable designs
• Motivate your team with a clear vision and create ambitious plans for your team’s work while holding a high bar for technical quality
• Build your team by hiring world class engineers