Flight Test Engineer Intern - Autonomous Drone Systems

First Roles; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing stipend

Relocation support

Overtime pay

Paid sick time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a Flight Test Engineer Intern for Summer 2027 in San Francisco, CA. You’ll analyze flight test data, help design test campaigns, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to validate autonomous systems.

This full-time, in-person internship runs May/June through August/September with an hourly rate of $40. We look for students who have completed at least two years in physics, math, or related engineering fields and who are excited to work on real-world autonomous flight

Qualifications

• Undergraduate status: must have completed year 2 in physics, math, mechanical/aerospace, system engineering, CS or EE.
• Strong mathematical/physical background required.
• Experience with autonomous vehicle/test systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Analyze flight test data logs to identify anomalies and trends.
• Design, execute, and review software validation and flight test campaigns.
• Monitor develop branch daily to surface instabilities and issues.
• Collaborate with GNC, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Systems Engineering to meet test requirements.
• Develop test infrastructure and data collection tools for flight testing.
• Maintain documentation, dashboards, and SQL queries tracking progress.

Skills

Python

Data analysis

SQL

Education

Undergraduate, 2nd year in STEM fields

Tools

DataBricks

Job description

Zipline is seeking a Flight Test Engineer Intern for Summer 2027 in San Francisco, CA. You’ll analyze flight test data, help design test campaigns, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to validate autonomous systems.

This full-time, in-person internship runs May/June through August/September with an hourly rate of $40. We look for students who have completed at least two years in physics, math, or related engineering fields and who are excited to work on real-world autonomous flight