Software Engineer (Test Infrastructure)

San Francisco

* Zipline's autonomous drone delivery system relies on software that behaves safely and predictably across sensor drivers, perception, navigation, guidance and control, motion planning, power management, actuator control and fleet autonomy * As a Senior Software Systems Validation Engineer, you will lead end-to-end evaluation from simulation through full-system flight testing * You will bridge Systems Engineering and Software Development, owning validation strategy and the evidence that exposes capability gains, gaps, regressions, and safety risks * Your work will inform engineering decisions for large-scale deployment and operating-domain expansion across aircraft performance, delivery operations, docking systems, and fleet orchestration * Define system-level validation strategy for software performance, reliability, and safety * Design, implement, and execute nominal, adversarial, stress, and edge-case scenarios from simulation through full-system flight testing * Build metrics, visualizations, real-time performance and safety monitors, and automated tools that reveal capability changes and regressions * Set validation evidence and exit criteria that inform release, deployment, and operating-domain expansion decisions * Debug failures across simulation, hardware, firmware, embedded software, and application software; clearly document findings and escalate unresolved safety or performance risks * Partner with test infrastructure and data platform teams to increase automated validation coverage, efficiency, and precision while maintaining development and deployment velocity