Drone Systems Program Manager Intern

Socket.dev; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 25,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking program management interns for our hardware-focused teams, to work on defining timelines, milestones, and cross-functional collaboration across electrical, mechanical, design validation, and embedded software domains. This in-person internship requires presence at Zipline's South San Francisco office five days a week, May/June through August/September 2027.

Ideal candidates are early-stage mechanical or mechatronics engineering students, with a strong technical foundation,

Qualifications

• Must have at least completed the second year of undergraduate studies in Mechanical or Mechatronics Engineering (or equivalent).
• Strong technical background and ability to explain challenges to engineers and non-engineers.
• Able to work in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment with clarity and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Understand and mitigate technical and program risks to keep projects on track and support decision making.
• Define program timelines, milestones, and critical path.
• Coordinate across electrical, mechanical, design validation, and embedded software teams to develop hardware.
• Drive prototype and test activities to validate new hardware designs.
• Report program updates to leadership and manage infrastructure builds for test campaigns.

Skills

Strong technical background

Excellent communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Ownership and bias for action

Education

Second year undergrad in Mechanical or Mechatronics Engineering (or equivalent); Masters/PhD eligible

Job description

Zipline is seeking program management interns for our hardware-focused teams, to work on defining timelines, milestones, and cross-functional collaboration across electrical, mechanical, design validation, and embedded software domains. This in-person internship requires presence at Zipline's South San Francisco office five days a week, May/June through August/September 2027.

Ideal candidates are early-stage mechanical or mechatronics engineering students, with a strong technical foundation,