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 Hardware Test Team plays a critical role in ensuring the performance, reliability, and safety of the systems that power Zipline’s life-saving delivery drones. As a cross-functional group supporting multiple hardware engineering domains, we design and execute rigorous testing strategies across avionics, power systems, mechanical assemblies, sensors, and other mission-critical components. Operating at the intersection of hardware and software, we validate integrated systems under real-world and simulated conditions to ensure our products perform flawlessly in some of the most demanding environments on Earth. Our work directly advances Zipline’s mission to provide fast, dependable access to essential medical and commercial supplies around the globe.
The RoleIn developing a test asset, you will gain a deep understanding of the system you are working on—whether that includes embedded electronics, avionics, sensing systems, power distribution, mechanical actuation, or full subsystem integrations. Building these test assets often involves designing and constructing mechatronic systems as well as developing complex automation scripts that coordinate sensors, actuators, and instrumentation with operator safety in mind.
You will own your test asset end-to-end: from early concept and system definition, to implementation, data collection, analysis, and ultimately the recommendations that inform engineering decisions. If you are excited by hands-on engineering, solving ambiguous technical problems, and building tools that raise the bar for hardware quality, this role is for you.
What You'll Do
Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to define clear component and tester requirements
Validate the design and assembly of components ranging from circuit boards to large mechanical or electromechanical assemblies
Streamline testing, data collection, analysis, and reporting
Gain deep expertise in the components or systems under test to understand their expected behavior under a variety of operating conditions
Own a test asset through its entire lifecycle—from planning and implementation to system validation, troubleshooting, and analysis of results
Ability to interpret datasheets and write basic drivers for new components
Understanding of fundamental electrical and/or mechanical engineering principles
Experience working with common electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, etc.)
- Nice to have: Experience programming in Python, with foundational knowledge of embedded C; Experience developing software that interfaces directly with hardware and instrumentation
Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco or Dallas office. We will host our Spring 2027 interns from January to April/May.
Candidates are limited to three (3) applications within a 30-day period.
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
- Ability to interpret datasheets and write basic drivers for new components
- Understanding of fundamental electrical and/or mechanical engineering principles
- Experience working with common electrical test equipment, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, and power supplies
- Experience programming in Python
- Foundational knowledge of embedded C
- Experience developing software that interfaces directly with hardware and instrumentation
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.
-
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.
-
Parental & Family Support — Parental and family leave is highlighted as generous and meaningfully used, reinforcing support for major life events.
-
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.
Gallery
