Autonomous Drone Systems Validation Intern

Zipline; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 25,000 - 41,000; Part time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Software Systems Validation Intern to help evaluate the software powering our autonomous drone delivery system. You will collaborate with engineers across robotics, autonomy, and systems engineering to build tests, tools, metrics, and visualizations that illuminate system performance before flight.

The role offers hands-on exposure to validation across simulation, hardware testing, and data-driven analysis, with opportunities to learn from industry-leading autonomous systems

Qualifications

• Coursework or project experience in robotics, controls, estimation, navigation, perception, or software development.
• Must have completed the second year of undergraduate studies in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• Familiarity with testing, debugging, or validation methodologies (academic or project-based).
• Basic proficiency with a compiled language such as C/C++ or Rust.

Responsibilities

• Help develop and improve validation tools, workflows, and automation.
• Build tests, tools, metrics, and visualizations to understand system performance.
• Support validation pipelines with test infrastructure and data platform teams.
• Analyze results and identify root causes of failures or unexpected behavior.
• Document findings and communicate insights to engineering stakeholders.

Skills

Robotics

Controls

Estimation

Navigation

Perception

Software development

Python

Data analysis

C/C++

Rust

Education

Undergraduate – 2nd year or higher in CS/Software Engineering/Aerospace/Robotics

Tools

Python

SQL

C/C++

Rust

Job description

Zipline is seeking a Software Systems Validation Intern to help evaluate the software powering our autonomous drone delivery system. You will collaborate with engineers across robotics, autonomy, and systems engineering to build tests, tools, metrics, and visualizations that illuminate system performance before flight.

The role offers hands-on exposure to validation across simulation, hardware testing, and data-driven analysis, with opportunities to learn from industry-leading autonomous systems