Autonomous Systems Validation Intern

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 63,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Housing stipend

Overtime pay

Paid sick time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Software Systems Validation Intern in South San Francisco to help evaluate the software behind our autonomous drone delivery system. You will contribute to tests, tools, metrics, and visualizations that drive understanding of system performance and reliability before flight.

The role is ideal for someone excited to learn how complex robotic systems are validated, with interests in autonomy software, data analysis, and systems engineering.

Qualifications

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

Responsibilities

• Support design and execution of test scenarios across the autonomous software stack to validate system-level requirements.
• Help develop and improve validation tools, workflows, and automation.
• Build visualizations or metrics highlighting performance trends, gaps, and regressions.
• Collaborate with test infrastructure and data platform teams to run validation pipelines.
• Analyze results and contribute to identifying root causes of failures or unexpected behavior.
• Document findings and communicate insights to engineering stakeholders.

Skills

Python

SQL

C/C++

Rust

Robotics

Data analysis

Education

Undergraduate year 2 in CS/Software Engineering/Robotics

Job description

Zipline is seeking a Software Systems Validation Intern in South San Francisco to help evaluate the software behind our autonomous drone delivery system. You will contribute to tests, tools, metrics, and visualizations that drive understanding of system performance and reliability before flight.

The role is ideal for someone excited to learn how complex robotic systems are validated, with interests in autonomy software, data analysis, and systems engineering.