Head of Systems Engineering
Zipline · South San Francisco, California, USA
Posted about 2 months ago · $225,000-275,000 · Previously reposted
or apply directly on Zipline 's site. We never take the application ourselves.
Is this posting real?
- This role has been open
- 55 days Zipline 's roles stay open a median of 53 days
- Reposted
- Yes taken down and listed again at least once
- Salary listed
- Yes 51% of Zipline 's roles list one
- Ghost-job risk at Zipline
- high 204 stale, 6 reposted of 342 open
- Hiring momentum
- 454 roles opened in the last 90 days ↑ up vs. the prior 90 days
- Last confirmed on the employer's board
- 2026-09-27
Measured from postings appearing on and disappearing from Zipline 's own greenhouse board since 2026-08-03. Full hiring picture for Zipline .
About this role
In this role, you will lead the systems engineering team at Zipline, focusing on defining product capabilities and ensuring the successful delivery of high-reliability, safety-critical autonomous systems. Your responsibilities will include creating architectures, developing verification plans, and monitoring operational performance while mentoring your team and driving a multi-year technical roadmap. You will also collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize for safety, performance, and cost as the company scales its operations significantly in the coming years.
- benefits
- 4/5
- freshness
- 1/5
- career value
- 4/5
- role clarity
- 4/5
- pay transparency
- 5/5
Scored from the posting itself — how clearly the role is described, how much it says about pay and benefits, and how recently it was listed. Not a judgement of Zipline as an employer.
What you need
- Demonstrated leadership delivering complex technical solutions amid ambiguity and competing priorities
- A track record of shipping high-reliability, safety-critical autonomous systems into real-world operation
- Deep systems-engineering experience with product requirements, architecture, interface definition, system decomposition, verification planning, and validation
- Technical judgment in safety-critical autonomy, including fail-safe, fault-tolerant, and fail-operative approaches
- Experience making principled tradeoffs among safety, performance, cost, and operational constraints using models, metrics, and test evidence
- Ability to develop technical leaders and communicate clear system decisions across engineering, safety, regulatory, and operational partners
What you get
- Starting cash range of $225,000-275,000
- Equity compensation
- Overtime pay
- Discretionary annual or performance bonuses
- Sales incentives
- Medical, dental and vision insurance
Worth weighing
- No specific details on the team size or structure are provided
- The role involves significant responsibility in a rapidly scaling environment, which may lead to high pressure
- The cash range is a target and final pay will depend on various factors, which may create uncertainty for candidates
Summarised from Zipline 's posting. Read the full original.
Listed by Zipline on their greenhouse job board, last confirmed open on 2026-09-27. PitchMeAI is not the employer.
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