Maintenance Tool Engineering Intern (Summer 2027)

Namely; Esparto (CA); On-site; USD 43,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Housing stipend

Overtime pay

Paid sick time

Other benefits

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a hardware tooling intern for its Esparto, CA facility to design, validate, and field maintenance tools as the hardware evolves. You will work closely with maintenance, hardware, and tooling engineers to create practical solutions and iterate rapidly in a real-world setting.

The internship is full-time and onsite at Esparto, with Summer 2027 interns from May/June to August/September. Zipline offers a dynamic, hands-on experience with immediate feedback and real impact on

Qualifications

• Familiarity with mechanical design principles (statics, dynamics, materials)
• Experience with CAD tools for design and iteration
• Hands-on prototyping experience (3D printing, fabrication, welding, soldering)
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Ability to work on-site at the Esparto, CA test facility every day

Responsibilities

• Work with Hardware and Operations teams to understand needs and constraints
• Design and prototype tools for drone and ground system maintenance
• Produce first units using hand and machine tools
• Gather feedback and iterate designs quickly
• Create usage docs and lead training when tools roll out

Skills

Mechanical design fundamentals

CAD (NX)

CAD (SolidWorks)

CAD (Fusion)

Prototyping

Cross-functional collaboration

On-site work

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

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 Service Tooling & Processes Team

Our team’s brief is to make maintenance better across Zipline. From designing smart fixtures that allow us to interact with our aircraft electronically to writing and validating maintenance procedures to kitting mobile maintenance vans that allow technicians to service our system in the summer heat, we aim to improve every aspect of maintenance. Our direct customers are the operational maintenance teams working on our systems in the field, and we’re laser-focused on making their lives better. If a maintenance technician working at 2 in the morning has everything they need to complete their work quickly, efficiently, and reliably, then we’ve done our job well.

The Role

As Zipline continues to rapidly iterate our hardware, we need to design, validate, and field new tools to allow technicians to do their work safely and efficiently. You’ll work closely with maintenance to understand their needs and pain points, then partner with hardware and tooling engineers to create solutions. Our team is based out of a high-volume test facility, so you’ll see your designs get immediate use, immediate feedback, and plenty of iteration cycles. Once those tools have been perfected at our test facilities they become part of our operational toolkits across all of Zipline and make real, tangible impacts on how we serve our customers.

What You’ll Do

• Work closely with Hardware and Operations teams to understand pain points and process requirements.
• Design and prototype tools for drone and ground system maintenance. Use hand and machine tools to produce the first units.
• Gather operational feedback on your designs and iterate quickly.
• Partner with Operations leadership on trade studies to evaluate the optimal, fully-productionized forms of your design.
• Create usage documentation and lead training sessions as your designs roll out into operation.

What You’ll Bring

• A strong grasp of mechanical design fundamentals (statics, dynamics, material properties, fabrication processes, etc).
• Proficiency with CAD software like NX, Solidworks, Fusion, etc.
• Hands-on prototyping experience like 3d printing, fabrications, welding, soldering, or assembly.
• Strong communication skills and an ability to collaborate cross-functionally.
• Obsessive customer focus and a drive to understand how your designs work in the real world.
• Ability to work on-site at our test facility in Esparto, CA every day.

What Else You Should Know

This internship is a full-time position, in-person at our Esparto, CA Office. We will host our Summer 2027 interns from this summer (May/June - August/September). Zipline is unable to sponsor work visas for applicants to this position.

The hourly rate for this internship is $37 per hour. Additional benefits may include relocation support, a housing stipend, overtime pay, paid sick time, and other benefits, where applicable and subject to local requirements.

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.