Cinematographer

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is expanding its communications team in the United States, seeking a Senior Cinematographer in South San Francisco to capture launches, operations, and customer experiences. You will translate shot plans into practical camera and lighting approaches, working both independently and with a team to support fast-paced field production.

You will collaborate with a Video Producer, Editor, and Motion Designer, bringing strong documentary instincts, a wide range of camera systems, and careful

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional cinematography across documentary and brand productions.
• Strong reel demonstrating camera and lighting craft.
• Experience with cinema camera systems and fast-paced production.

Responsibilities

• Capture high-quality footage for social, launches, interviews.
• Collaborate on shot lists, lighting plans, and production schedules.
• Operate cameras and lighting equipment to match plan.
• Maintain media integrity and on-set handoffs to Editor.

Skills

Cinematography

Camera systems

Lighting craft

Field production

Collaboration

Tools

ARRI cameras

RED cameras

Canon lenses

Lighting gear

Job description

About Zipline

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.

About Zipline

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.

About You And The Role

Zipline’s communications team shapes and shares the company’s story and impact. We develop and implement strategies and tactics to educate our target audiences about Zipline, tell stories that raise awareness about what we’re doing and the impact that we’re having, increase acceptance of and excitement for our system, and cultivate ambassadors. We are passionate storytellers and make complex topics simple and understandable.

Zipline is expanding in the U.S. and will be delivering food, medicine, retail items and more directly to people’s homes in many states over the next few years. We are seeking a Senior Cinematographer to capture launches, demos, operations, customer experiences, interviews, events, and the people behind the work.

You will translate shot plans and creative references into practical camera and lighting approaches for real‑world production. You will work across planned productions and fast‑moving field capture, operating independently when a small footprint is appropriate and collaborating with a crew on larger shoots. You will partner closely with a Video Producer, Editor, and Motion Designer, as well as Communications, Brand, Social, Marketing, engineers, and operators. This is a hands‑on role centered on camera, lighting, composition, movement, exposure, equipment readiness, and reliable media handoff.

What You’ll Do

• Capture high-quality footage for social and brand video, product launches, technical explainers, customer stories, interviews, events, recruiting, and internal communications.
• Collaborate with the Video Producer and creative partners on shot lists, references, location scouts, technical scouts, camera tests, lighting plans, equipment needs, and production schedules.
• Select and operate cameras, lenses, filtration, support, monitoring, and movement tools appropriate to each production.
• Design and execute lighting and grip setups for interviews, products, demonstrations, operational environments, studio work, and location shoots.
• Make deliberate choices about composition, framing, lensing, movement, focus, exposure, frame rate, and coverage while working within the production plan.
• Operate effectively as a solo shooter, within a small crew, or as part of a larger camera and lighting team.
• Capture documentary and observational footage in changing conditions while maintaining technical quality, situational awareness, and respect for the people and environments being documented.
• Coordinate clean production‑sound capture with audio crew and manage camera, lighting, and sound essentials on single‑operator assignments.
• Work with engineers, operators, safety partners, and site leads to prepare for capture around aircraft, robotics, vehicles, facilities, customers, and live operations.
• Prepare, test, organize, maintain, and track camera, lighting, grip, monitoring, audio‑support, and media equipment.
• Maintain on‑set media integrity through consistent camera settings, timecode and metadata practices, card management, verification, and documented handoff to the Editor.
• Review footage with the Editor and communicate relevant continuity, exposure, color, coverage, and technical considerations for post‑production.
• Contribute to practical camera tests, equipment guides, checklists, and capture workflows that improve repeatability across productions.

What You’ll Bring

• 6+ years of professional cinematography or camera‑department experience across documentary, commercial, brand, editorial, product, technical, or comparable productions.
• A strong reel and portfolio demonstrating visual storytelling, camera and lighting craft, and range across controlled and field production, with your role identified for each project.
• Deep proficiency with professional cinema camera systems such as ARRI, RED, Sony, Canon, or Blackmagic, and the ability to adapt quickly to other systems.
• Strong knowledge of lenses, filtration, exposure, monitoring, color science, LUTs, codecs, frame rates, timecode, camera movement, and production workflows.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing lighting and grip setups in studios and on location.
• Experience working as a solo operator, with a small crew, and within larger camera and lighting departments.
• Strong documentary instincts and the ability to anticipate action, find meaningful moments, and build useful editorial coverage in uncontrolled environments.
• Experience capturing interviews, products or hardware, demonstrations, events, and observational footage.
• Strong equipment, media, metadata, and handoff discipline.
• Clear communication and the ability to work effectively with producers, editors, engineers, operators, customers, executives, and production crews.
• Sound judgment around location conditions, access, safety requirements, schedules, and the practical limits of a production plan.
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 30% for productions and work occasional early mornings, evenings, or weekends when production schedules require it.
• Experience capturing robotics, autonomy, aviation, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure, or another technically complex subject is a plus.
• Experience with high‑speed capture, long‑lens tracking, stabilized remote cameras, gimbals, motion control, time‑lapse, aerial cinematography, or FAA Part 107 operations is a plus.
• Working knowledge of DaVinci Resolve, on‑set color workflows, still photography, or location audio is a plus.

You’ll Thrive in the Role If

• You are happiest behind the camera and enjoy solving visual and technical problems in the field.
• You can move between carefully controlled setups and fast documentary capture without losing attention to image quality.
• You prepare equipment and capture plans thoroughly and adapt calmly when conditions change.
• You are curious about complex technology and diligent about documenting it accurately and safely.
• You collaborate well with producers, editors, production crews, and technical subject‑matter experts.
• You care about complete coverage, media integrity, and reliable handoffs as much as individual shots.
• You are passionate about Zipline’s mission, impact, and products.

What Else You Need To Know

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.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.

Voluntary Self‑Identification

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.