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.
The Ground Systems Deployment and Construction team is responsible for turning bare ground into functional drone charging sites! We’re a broad, cross-functional team with skills across civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and construction engineering with a mandate to deliver world-class construction execution with zero issues in the first 30 days, on-time and on-budget, using scalable, cost-optimized, and serviceable designs.
The RoleThe Ground System Deployment and Construction Engineering team is seeking a curious, collaborative Electrical Engineering Intern to support the design and deployment of Zipline’s Ground Systems across a variety of sites and applications.
In this role, you’ll gain hands-on experience with commercial and light-industrial electrical distribution as applied to an autonomous drone delivery network. Working alongside experienced engineers, you’ll help with utility coordination, site-level electrical design, structure-level wiring approaches, and technical documentation.
You’ll collaborate with mechanical, structural, electrical, and deployments teams to support real-world projects and contribute to problem-solving as new challenges arise. This internship also offers opportunities to explore new design ideas and assist with improvements to our engineering processes. You’ll work and become familiar with the National Electrical Code and apply the concepts to site and infrastructure designs.
The internship is based in South San Francisco, with occasional travel within California and the U.S. for site visits or field support.
What You'll Do- Support engineers with research, drafting, and documentation for electrical distribution and structure-level wiring designs aligned with NEC and relevant standards.
- Assist with UL/TUV certification efforts by gathering documentation, preparing technical materials, and coordinating with engineering partners.
- Help prepare materials, track communication, and support interactions with deployment and construction teams
- Implement feedback from Deployment and Construction teams to continuously optimize designs for more efficient build and scale
- Design electrical distribution of commercial and light industrial ground system projects per NEC and relevant applicable codes and standards.
- Design next generation charging structure level electrical wiring and installation approaches.
- Evaluate all options and a lean budget, select best vendors to ensure reliable and quality services and products.
- Help document project risks, prepare materials for meetings, support communication across teams, and occasionally participate in site visits for field observations.
- Create documentation to ensure quality and process refinement between each build to help with consistent scale
- Collaborate with engineering and business teams to understand customer needs and contribute to improvements in Ground Systems infrastructure.
- Travel to commercial and flight test sites may be required on an ad hoc basis.
- You must have completed the second year of your undergraduate studies, with relevant coursework (e.g., circuits, power systems, construction). Master's and PhD students are also eligible.
- Strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and a willingness to ask questions and learn.
- Familiarity with engineering tools or concepts such as CAD/ECAD, electrical modeling, or basic simulation software. (Revit, Bluebeam Revu, AutoCAD, NX)
- Clear written and verbal communication skills, especially when summarizing technical information.
- Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment and support a wide range of tasks.
- Curiosity, initiative, and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
Comfort with hands-on work and openness to occasional travel (if needed). - An open mind to help us bring Zipline’s service to new and existing customers!
This internship is a full-time position, in-person at our South San Francisco office. We will host our Spring 2027 interns from (January 2027 - April 2027).
The hourly rate for this internship is $44 per hour. Additional benefits may include relocation support, a housing stipend, overtime pay, paid sick time, and other benefits, where applicable and subject to local requirements.
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.
Zipline is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your point of contact at Zipline know if you require any accommodations throughout your interview process.
For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.
As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.
Skills Required
- Completion of the second year of undergraduate studies
- Relevant coursework in circuits, power systems, construction, or similar
- Master’s or PhD students are eligible
- Strong analytical skills and attention to detail
- Familiarity with CAD/ECAD, electrical modeling, or basic simulation software
- Familiarity with Revit, Bluebeam Revu, AutoCAD, or NX
- Clear written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to collaborate in a fast-paced environment and support varied tasks
- Curiosity, initiative, and a proactive approach to problem-solving
- Comfort with hands-on work and openness to occasional travel
Zipline Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Zipline and has not been reviewed or approved by Zipline.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is consistently described as comprehensive and high quality, with multiple plan choices, low out‑of‑pocket costs, and additions like HRA, One Medical, and fertility support.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental and family leave is highlighted as generous and meaningfully used, reinforcing support for major life events.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off, sick days, and holidays are portrayed as solid and broadly available, contributing to overall benefits depth.
Zipline Insights
What We Do
Zipline is the world's largest autonomous delivery network and is powered entirely by fixed-wing drones. Our fleet circles the equivalent distance of the equator every 2.5 days, and we have shipped hundreds of thousands of critical medical products across Rwanda, Ghana, and now beginning in the United States.
Why Work With Us
Zipline is the perfect intersection of super cutting-edge tech, deep social mission, and extremely compelling business case. Our small, scrappy, customer-obsessed, humble, and mission-driven team has set the bar for what is possible in the drone logistics industry globally, and has designed some incredibly elegant technology in the process.
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