Mechanical Engineer (RF Systems)

As a Mechanical Design Engineer for RF Systems, you will own the physical architecture and mechanical design of antenna and RF assemblies used across Zipline's avionics systems Your scope may include GNSS, cellular, Wi-Fi, command-and-control, ADS-B, and other current or future wireless systems You will work closely with RF, Electrical, EMC, Systems, Navigation, Flight Test, Manufacturing, and vehicle-structure teams You are not expected to replace the RF electrical engineer; you are expected to understand RF behavior deeply enough to make mechanical decisions that preserve antenna and link performance from prototype through high-volume production and fleet deployment Own end-to-end mechanical design for antenna and RF assemblies, including architecture, packaging, CAD, drawings, specifications, tolerance analysis, BOMs, and production release Translate link-budget, antenna-pattern, polarization, isolation, desense, environmental, structural, and vehicle-level requirements into measurable mechanical constraints Establish antenna placement, orientation, keep-out, ground-plane, separation, and installation requirements across vehicle structures and avionics assemblies Design antenna mounts, radomes, housings, RF shields, feedline routing, connector interfaces, strain relief, grounding features, and serviceable module assemblies Define mechanical shielding, seam, gasket, grounding, and bonding strategies that contain digital and power-system emissions while avoiding unintended antenna effects Partner with RF and Test engineers on measurements including S-parameters, VSWR, insertion loss, antenna efficiency, gain, radiation pattern, polarization, isolation, desense, and environmental performance Create fixtures and representative structures that allow chamber and bench measurements to reproduce the installed mechanical configuration Perform structural, thermal, vibration, fatigue, and tolerance analyses to ensure RF assemblies remain physically stable and electrically repeatable throughout operating life Define critical-to-quality dimensions and manufacturing controls for antenna position, orientation, ground contact, cable routing, connector engagement, radome geometry, and adhesive application Work directly with antenna vendors, material suppliers, connector manufacturers, composite suppliers, and contract manufacturers to qualify parts and production processes Lead investigations of RF field failures where mechanical configuration may be a contributing factor. Use telemetry, RF logs, inspection data, environmental history, and physical measurements to establish root cause Maintain mechanical interface-control documents and installation requirements so antenna performance is preserved across vehicle configurations and future product generations What Success Looks Like Antenna and RF assemblies meet link-margin, gain, pattern, polarization, isolation, and navigation-availability requirements in their installed configurations RF performance remains repeatable across production variation, vehicle configurations, environmental exposure, and operating life Mechanical design decisions measurably reduce GNSS desense, intermittent-link, connector, cable, radome, and installation-related failures RF assemblies ramp to production while meeting agreed mass, cost, yield, assembly-time, and supplier-capability targets Field and chamber data correlate well enough that mechanical changes can be evaluated quickly and product risks are identified before deployment The resulting antenna architecture supports future radios, frequency bands, structures, and vehicle generations without extensive mechanical rework Ability to reason about how antenna placement, radome properties, conductive structures, cable routing, grounding, and assembly variation affect RF performancePeriodic off-hours support may be required during flight tests, certification campaigns, production ramps, or urgent field investigationsAdvanced CAD, GD&T, datum-strategy, drawing-release, and production-tolerance skillsThis role is based in South San Francisco and requires regular hands-on work in the lab. Travel to suppliers, manufacturers, antenna ranges, chamber facilities, and flight-test locations will be requiredExperience designing environmentally sealed hardware for vibration, shock, temperature cycling, moisture, contamination, and outdoor exposureWorking knowledge of RF fundamentals, including antenna gain, radiation pattern, polarization, ground-plane effects, impedance, insertion loss, shielding, isolation, and link marginExperience working directly with suppliers and manufacturing teams to establish capable processes and improve yield, cost, and repeatabilityExperience building prototypes, test coupons, fixtures, and representative structures for mechanical and RF characterizationStrong mechanical engineering fundamentals, including structures, vibration, fatigue, thermal design, material selection, sealing, tolerance analysis, and environmental protectionExperience designing with RF-transparent plastics, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, metals, composites, and conductive carbon-fiber structuresTrack record of resolving difficult cross-disciplinary failures involving mechanical hardware, RF performance, electronics, manufacturing variation, or installation conditionsExperience integrating coaxial cables, RF connectors, controlled-impedance flexes, shielding, grounding, and strain relief into compact mechanical assembliesExperience developing high-volume, connectorized antenna architectures that can be assembled and verified at end of lineFamiliarity with EMC design, regulatory certification, EIRP constraints, or international radio configurationsExperience investigating GNSS desense or coexistence problems involving high-speed compute, cameras, motors, or switching power electronicsExperience developing radomes, conformal antennas, composite-integrated antennas, ceramic patches, FPC antennas, or directional antenna modulesExperience with anechoic chambers, over-the-air testing, antenna ranges, vector network analyzers, or RF survey testingExperience with aircraft, drones, robotics, automotive systems, or other mass- and volume-constrained wireless productsExperience with GNSS, cellular, Wi-Fi, command-and-control, ADS-B, UWB, or multi-radio platforms #J-18808-Ljbffr Zipline