Head of Software Engineering, Commerce Platform

Company: Zipline
Location: South San Francisco
Posted on: April 2, 2026

Job Description:

About Zipline Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced drone delivery service. We are on a mission to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to food, medicine and essential goods anytime, anywhere. We design, build, and operate the world’s largest autonomous logistics system, delivering critical supplies quickly and reliably. Today, Zipline operates on four continents, makes a delivery somewhere in the world every 30 seconds, and has completed millions of deliveries to date, including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and retail products. Our customers include the world’s largest and most prominent healthcare systems, governments, retailers, restaurants and global businesses who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide delivery from point A to point B as fast as possible. The drone is only 15% of what we’ve built to enable seamless, reliable, global operations. Our system strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and gives people time back. With more than 140 million commercial autonomous miles safely flown, Zipline is redefining access to healthcare, consumer products, and food across the globe. We operate at a global scale and are looking for practical problem solvers who thrive on real-world challenges and rapid growth. Our team is motivated by building systems that have a direct, meaningful impact on people’s lives and by scaling the future of logistics. We are seeking people who sculpt from first principles, enjoy facing adversity, and can do the impossible at record breaking speeds. ABOUT ZIPLINE Do you want to change the world? Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building, manufacturing, and operating the first instant delivery and logistics system that serves all humans equally, wherever they are. From powering Rwanda’s national blood delivery network and Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, to providing on-demand home delivery for Walmart, to enabling healthcare providers to bring care directly to U.S. homes, we are transforming the way things move for businesses, governments, and consumers. The technology is complex, but the idea is simple: a teleportation service that delivers what you need, when you need it. Through robotics, autonomy, and software, we are decarbonizing delivery, reducing congestion, and building a more resilient global supply chain. Join Zipline and help us make good on our promise. ABOUT THE TEAM The Commerce team in Application Software owns the software that connects customers, partners, and operations into a single cohesive platform. This team sits at the center of Zipline’s commercial and operational strategy. The team is responsible for both B2C and B2B experiences, spanning customer mobile ordering, partner and merchant tools, serviceability platforms, partner integrations, customer support tools, and the fulfillment and picking systems that turn orders into successful deliveries. The systems the team builds directly shape customer trust, partner success, operational efficiency, and Zipline’s ability to scale new business models. Engineers on this team operate as product thinkers, working closest to customers and partners and owning the systems that determine whether ordering is intuitive, fulfillment is reliable, and partners succeed on the platform. ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for a senior engineering leader to join Zipline as Head of Software Engineering, Commerce Platform. In this role, you will define the vision, strategy, and product roadmap for Zipline’s marketplace and commerce software across both B2C and B2B domains, ensuring that what we build delivers meaningful customer impact and scales with the business. You will set priorities, make tradeoffs, and drive alignment across stakeholders to translate that vision into execution. You will directly own both product direction and engineering execution for the Commerce platform, defining what we build and ensuring it is delivered with technical excellence. You will be accountable for the outcomes of the Commerce platform, including customer adoption, partner success, system reliability, and the platform’s ability to scale with the business. You will lead multiple engineering teams responsible for the systems that power customer ordering, partner interactions, and fulfillment execution. This is a high-intensity leadership role in a fast-moving environment where clarity, velocity, and accountability are expected. You will set long-term direction, establish architectural and organizational standards, and ensure that near-term priorities align with a durable commercial strategy. You will partner across engineering leadership to advance AI-enabled developer workflows, while leading the integration of AI capabilities into systems to move faster and build smarter products. WHAT YOU’LL DO Define, own, and evolve the product roadmap for Zipline’s marketplace and commerce platforms, setting priorities based on customer impact, business outcomes, and technical leverage. Lead, mentor, and grow multiple engineering teams, developing strong engineering leaders and a culture of ownership and accountability. Set the technical and architectural direction for commerce systems, including mobile apps, backend services, integrations, and fulfillment workflows. Partner closely with the Commercial teams to translate business strategy into clear roadmaps and execution plans. Identify and integrate AI-driven capabilities into Zipline’s marketplace and commerce products, enhancing customer experience, partner operations, and decision-making across the platform. Ensure all commerce systems are reliable, scalable, and observable at meaningful scale, supporting rapid growth in customers, partners, and transaction volume. Establish and uphold engineering standards for quality, security, performance, and operational excellence. Navigate ambiguity and competing priorities with clarity, making decisive, data-informed decisions and holding teams accountable for results. Re-architect and simplify core commerce systems to support 10x growth in users, partners, and transaction volume without sacrificing reliability or velocity. WHAT YOU’LL BRING Proven experience as a senior engineering leader managing multiple teams in complex, customer-facing software environments. Demonstrated ownership of product vision and roadmap, including setting strategy and priorities, with a track record of translating ambiguous problem spaces into high-impact software. Prior experience building or leading B2C and B2B marketplace and commerce platforms, ideally within e-commerce or food delivery industries. Strong technical foundation with experience designing and scaling distributed systems and mobile applications. Strong judgment in architectural and organizational decisions that balance speed, quality, and long-term platform health, with the ability to drive alignment and execution across engineering teams. A product-leaning mindset with a deep appreciation for customer and partner experience. Experience working with technologies such as React Native, Python, Go, Kafka, and AWS, or comparable stacks. Demonstrated ability to leverage AI strategically to scale engineering productivity and build differentiated capabilities into customer-facing systems. Excellent cross-functional communication skills and the ability to influence across engineering, operations, and executive stakeholders. A leadership style that emphasizes clarity, trust, high standards, and developing people. A track record of building high-velocity engineering teams that consistently deliver measurable outcomes on ambitious timelines. Experience operating in environments with real-world consequences where reliability is non-negotiable. A bias toward action, a low tolerance for unnecessary processes, and an expectation of high performance. What Else You Need to Know The starting cash range for this role is $200,000 - $250,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; overtime pay; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more. Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies. 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!

Keywords: Zipline, Modesto , Head of Software Engineering, Commerce Platform, IT / Software / Systems , South San Francisco, California