Aerodynamics Manager

About You and The Role

You’ll be a senior engineering leader responsible for delivering the aerodynamic and acoustic performance that make Zipline’s autonomous delivery aircraft fleet a magical customer experience. You will lead the aerodynamics discipline across clean‑sheet vehicles and major hardware revisions, owning aerodynamic tradeoffs that materially affect range, payload, noise compliance, manufacturability, and fleet uptime. Your team’s work directly impacts Zipline’s ability to deliver on-time, meet noise and safety limits in populated operational networks, reduce maintenance burden in distributed field sites, and support certification evidence where required. This role is based at our primary engineering site in South San Francisco with an expected on-site cadence of 5 days/week; regular domestic travel to flight-test facilities and operational sites is required.

What You'll Do

• Own aerodynamic performance and aeroacoustic targets for all active vehicle programs and fleet upgrades; set measurable targets that contribute to broad operational and business goals, and be accountable for meeting them.
• Lead and grow a 5–9 person aerodynamics team, set roadmaps, hire, and run weekly design reviews and sprint milestones tied to flight-test campaigns and program release gates.
• Build, validate, and maintain the aerodynamic plant models used by flight controls, performance, and systems teams; own model versioning and error budgets tied to fleet performance metrics (range, climb rate, cruise efficiency, acoustic footprint, and margin to safety limits).
• Design, specify, and oversee execution of aero test assets: wind tunnel models, instrumented flight-test vehicles, bench rigs, and propeller test stands; translate test results into model updates and design fixes within program schedules.
• Deliver advanced surfacing (external and internal wetted geometry) as release‑quality inputs to mechanical design and manufacturing; respecting manufacturability, assembly interfaces, and maintenance access in designs.
• Lead propeller aerodynamic and acoustic trade studies to minimize noise while meeting thrust and efficiency targets; own trade decisions, documentation and risk mitigations.
• Establish and track measurable metrics for aerodynamic health of the fleet (model fidelity, production deviation rates, flight-test pass rates, acoustic exceedances, and field-maintenance root causes) and report progress to vehicle program leadership.
• You will interface daily with propulsion, structures, flight software, certification/safety, manufacturing, and field operations teams; resolving cross-functional aero/system tradeoffs and owning aero-related requirements in system-level reviews.

What You'll Bring

• Minimum 6+ years industry experience in applied aerodynamics/aircraft design with at least 3 years in a leadership role or clear readiness to lead a 5–9 person team; hands‑on contributor background required.
• Deep expertise in CFD (experience with Fluent, Star‑CCM+, OpenFOAM, powerFLOW, or equivalent); translating CFD data into validated plant models for controls and performance, and interpreting three-dimensional flow behaviors to drive design forward
• Proven experimental aerodynamics skills: wind tunnel program design, pressure scanning, PIV/LDV, tufting/surface oil flow visualization, load measurement, flight‑test instrumentation and data reduction.
• Advanced surfacing and geometry skills with tools such as CATIA or NX and experience producing release‑quality geometry for mass produced products.
• Strong understanding of propeller/rotor aerodynamics and aeroacoustics, including noise‑reduction design techniques and trade studies between efficiency and acoustic footprint.
• Comfortable operating at high intensity: making fast, defensible tradeoffs under schedule pressure and ambiguity; hands‑on through design, flight test and manufacturing handoff.
• Logistics & location: based in South San Francisco (required); ability to be on-site 5 days/week and travel domestically ~10–20% for flight tests. You must be eligible to work in the US.

What Else You Need To Know

The starting cash range for this role is $200,000 to $265,000. Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!