Controls Engineer, Production Equipment

Responsibilities: Develop and validate equipment sequences, interlocks, sensor/actuator interfaces, and fault-recovery behavior against assembly requirements and safety criteria Diagnose control and electrical-interface faults during build, acceptance, and production ramps; coordinate changes with mechanical, manufacturing, and test engineers Own controls and electrical-interface delivery for production equipment from requirements through vendor build, commissioning, and production release; collaborate with mechanical engineers on CAD and integrated equipment acceptance Deliver measurable improvements: increase tooling availability above 95%, reduce manual assembly cycle time by 20–40% per station, and improve first-pass yield by at least 10% within 6–12 months Develop and integrate controls for alignment fixtures, tooling, ergonomic operator stations, poka‑yoke devices, handling fixtures, and end-of-line test rigs linked to build/test specs Perform on-line debugging and rapid root-cause analysis during launches; be prepared for weekend/evening commissioning during critical releases Apply controls and interface standards; collaborate on tooling design standards, GD&T, tolerance stacks, and material/process selections for safe, maintainable autonomous hardware Coordinate cross-functionally with Design, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Test, and Field Operations to align tooling scope and production schedules Work with fabricators and vendors: write RFQs, evaluate proposals, verify vendor QC, and perform acceptance testing at build and installation

Key requirements: 2+ years designing production equipment, fixtures, or custom automation in high-volume manufacturing Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent Mastery of GD&T, tolerance analysis, mechanism design, material selection, and failure-mode thinking for assembly tooling Proficiency in 3D CAD; Siemens NX preferred (SolidWorks/Creo acceptable with NX learning intent) Hands-on experience commissioning equipment on the factory floor Practical knowledge of pneumatics, actuators, sensors, linear motion, machine guarding, and industrial electrical interfaces Track record delivering quantitative outcomes (cycle time, uptime, FPY, cost per unit) and trade-offs between throughput, reliability, maintainability Ability to coordinate vendor builds and perform acceptance testing to technical drawings and QA criteria On-site role at Coop, Zipline’s South San Francisco site; occasional off-hours commissioning; up to 15% travel Must-have traits: ownership of safety and reliability, decisive technical judgment under pressure, comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration ownership and accountability decisive technical judgment collaboration across cross-functional teams GD&T tolerance analysis mechanism design