Embedded Firmware Engineer Intern (C++, RTOS)

Zipline; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 34,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing stipend

Overtime pay

Relocation support

Paid sick time

And more

Job summary

Zipline, the world’s leading drone-delivery company, seeks a firmware intern to own C++ firmware for a distributed network of aircraft microcontrollers. Work alongside teams to translate hardware behavior and flight data into reliable software used in field operations.

You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, embedded Linux, and systems engineers to improve observability, scalability, and safety-critical firmware. This onsite role in South San Francisco advances Zipline’s mission.

Qualifications

• Passion for firmware and realtime systems.
• Prior internship or design team experience.
• Experience coding in C or C++.
• Excellent grades in embedded systems courses.

Responsibilities

• Design and build C++ firmware for a distributed system of aircraft microcontrollers.
• Develop reliable Ethernet, serial, and other microcontroller interfaces.
• Define platform-level interfaces and reusable firmware components.
• Own the performance of microcontroller systems from startup to recovery.
• Optimize real-time behavior and resource usage.
• Develop metrics and tooling to support field deployment and testing.

Skills

C/C++

Embedded systems

Rust tooling

RTOS

Education

Rising senior in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field

Tools

Bootloaders

Embedded Linux

Microcontroller tooling

Job description

Zipline, the world’s leading drone-delivery company, seeks a firmware intern to own C++ firmware for a distributed network of aircraft microcontrollers. Work alongside teams to translate hardware behavior and flight data into reliable software used in field operations.

You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, embedded Linux, and systems engineers to improve observability, scalability, and safety-critical firmware. This onsite role in South San Francisco advances Zipline’s mission.