Autonomy Software Engineer Intern – Flight Systems

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 42,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline in South San Francisco is seeking an Autonomy Software Engineer Intern to help integrate autonomous flight features across planning, perception, and controls. You will bridge mission logic with embedded aircraft software and validation frameworks to ensure reliable, safe operation in real-world conditions.

The role focuses on real-time systems, performance and observability with a strong emphasis on safety and cross-team collaboration.

Qualifications

• Experience developing software in robotics, aerospace, autonomous vehicles, or other safety-critical embedded systems.
• Experience in Rust, C++, or C.
• Hands-on robotics testing, including simulation.
• Strong systems-thinking mindset and ability to integrate cross-disciplinary software under tight constraints.

Responsibilities

• Work on integration of complex autonomy features across embedded flight software and runtime systems.
• Implement core vehicle software in Rust with a focus on performance, safety, and observability.
• Develop tooling for validation, including SIL and HIL testing for rapid iteration and safe experimentation.
• Collaborate with systems engineering and autonomy teams to define real-world success metrics and logging interfaces.

Skills

Robotics software

Rust

C/C++

Embedded systems

Safety-critical

Robotics testing

Cross-functional work

Job description

Zipline in South San Francisco is seeking an Autonomy Software Engineer Intern to help integrate autonomous flight features across planning, perception, and controls. You will bridge mission logic with embedded aircraft software and validation frameworks to ensure reliable, safe operation in real-world conditions.

The role focuses on real-time systems, performance and observability with a strong emphasis on safety and cross-team collaboration.