Electrical Engineer Intern (Summer 2027)

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline in South San Francisco is offering an internship in Electrical Engineering. You will join a full-time team and work on real hardware projects, including battery charging electronics, ground support electronics, and avionics test equipment.

This role emphasizes hands-on prototyping, testing, and cross-functional collaboration. Ideal candidates have completed at least the second year of undergraduate study and have experience with circuit boards or robotics projects.

Qualifications

• Completed at least the second year of undergraduate studies.
• Designed and tested a custom circuit board (even if it didn’t work).
• Worked on a project that moved under its own power (robotics, vehicle, etc.).
• Collaborated on the above two items as part of a group (club, team, internship).
• Optionally share a sample of work or a note about experience relating to the points above.

Responsibilities

• Prototype new battery charging electronics for harsher environmental requirements in new countries.
• Architect ground support electronics for take-off and landing.
• Develop and deploy test equipment such as end-of-life testers for design validation and production.
• Support design validation campaigns to ensure avionics reliability.
• Conduct root cause investigations for test, flight, or field issues.

Skills

Circuit board design

Robotics project

Team collaboration

Prototyping

Electronics fundamentals

Education

Undergraduate, 2nd year

Tools

PCB design software

Testing equipment

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.

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 The Electrical Engineering Team

At Zipline, the Electrical Engineering Teams are at the heart of our flight and ground systems, responsible for designing, building, and testing all the electronics and software that goes into a scaled instant logistics system. From custom circuit board design, EOL tester development, and sensor integration to real-time flight control and communication systems, the team ensures our platforms operate safely and effectively in some of the most challenging environments in the world. The team works cross-functionally with mechanical, test, embedded, software, and systems engineering teams to create scalable, high-performance products that power life‑saving missions every day.

The Role

Leading the way in drone delivery often means exceeding the capabilities of what's available off the shelf, and as a result we are engineering the majority of our system in-house. Doubling down on the reliability of our systems is critical to delivering to our next billion customers--people whose lives will be meaningfully affected by smarter, more equitable access. We are deliberately expanding our electrical design and test capabilities and adding to the ranks of our experienced team to achieve these goals.

What You'll Do

You’ll have your own projects but we haven't been saving an "intern project" - you'll be a full member of our team, and like with our other engineers, we'll work with you to find projects that align with your goals and interests and the team's and company's priorities.

• Prototyping new versions of our battery charging electronics to meet harsher environmental requirements in new countries where we’re launching our service
• Architecting ground support electronics to assist the air vehicle with take-off and landing
• Developing and deploying test equipment such as EOL’s for design validation and production
• Supporting design validation campaigns to ensure that our avionics products meet design and reliability requirements
• Root cause investigation for our products from test, flight, or field issues.

What You'll Bring

• Must have at least completed the second year of your Undergraduate studies. Masters and PhD students are also eligible.
• You’ve designed and tested a custom circuit board (it doesn’t need to have worked - we’d love to hear about it!)
• You’ve worked on a project in or out of school that moved under its own power (plane, car, boat, quadcopter, rocket, balloon, rocket on a balloon, submarine, rover, etc. - we’re not picky)
• You’ve collaborated on the above two things as part of a group - school club, competition team, as part of a job/internship, or just with friends
• In your application, we’d love to see either a sample of work you’re proud of or a short note about your prior experience and how it relates to the three points above.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience in Robotics/Automation: Prior exposure to robotics systems, automation, or sensor data (through coursework, projects, or clubs) is a plus.
• Software Development: Exposure to object-oriented programming (e.g., C++ or Java) is a bonus.
• Cloud Computing/Big Data Tools: Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure) or big data tools (Spark, Hadoop) is helpful but not required.

What Else You Should Know

Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco or Dallas office. We will host our Summer 2027 interns from May/June to August/September.

Candidates are limited to three (3) applications within a 30-day period.

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.

Zipline is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your point of contact at Zipline know if you require any accommodations throughout your interview process.

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.