Robotics PM Intern: Drones & Hardware Delivery

The Robot Age; South San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a spring 2027 technical program manager intern in South San Francisco. The internship sits with program managers embedded across hardware teams working on drones, ground infrastructure, testing, and delivery systems.

This is a product execution role where you will help teams understand risks, make tradeoffs, track milestones, and keep complex robotics programs moving. You would collaborate closely with engineers to convert ideas into executable plans.

Qualifications

• Interest in technical program management for hardware, autonomy, aerospace, robotics, or complex systems.
• Strong organization, communication, and analytical skills.
• Ability to work onsite in South San Francisco during the spring internship.
• Comfort working close to engineers while staying focused on execution and tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

• Support technical program plans for drones, ground infrastructure, and delivery systems.
• Track risks, dependencies, milestones, and cross-functional decisions.
• Work with engineering teams across hardware, test, manufacturing, and operations.
• Help turn ambiguous technical work into plans that can be executed.

Job description

What the role actually is

Zipline is hiring a spring 2027 technical program manager intern in South San Francisco. The internship sits with program managers embedded across hardware teams working on drones, ground infrastructure, testing, and delivery systems.

This is a product execution role rather than a pure engineering role. The intern would help teams understand risks, make tradeoffs, track milestones, and keep complex robotics programs moving.

What you would work on

• Support technical program plans for drones, ground infrastructure, and delivery systems
• Track risks, dependencies, milestones, and cross-functional decisions
• Work with engineering teams across hardware, test, manufacturing, and operations
• Help turn ambiguous technical work into plans that can be executed

What they are asking for

• Interest in technical program management for hardware, autonomy, aerospace, robotics, or complex systems
• Strong organization, communication, and analytical skills
• Ability to work onsite in South San Francisco during the spring internship
• Comfort working close to engineers while staying focused on execution and tradeoffs

Why this one is worth a look

Robotics program management is where technical ambition meets schedule, test reality, and manufacturing constraints. Zipline is a good place to learn that discipline because its aircraft and infrastructure are already deployed at real scale.