Technical Program Manager Intern (Spring 2027)

Zipline; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 34,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking Spring 2027 interns for its Program Management team in South San Francisco or Dallas. You will work closely with engineers across electrical, mechanical, design validation and embedded software to plan, execute, and validate hardware development milestones.

In this full-time in-person internship, you will learn to manage timelines, risks, and cross-functional deliverables in a fast-paced, innovative environment.

Qualifications

• Must be able to work in person at Zipline's South San Francisco or Dallas office.
• Eligible to work in the US.
• Completed at least the second year of undergraduate studies or equivalent in Mechanical or Mechatronics Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Align priorities, coordinate timelines, and lead complex scope, resource, and schedule trades.
• Work in person at Zipline's South San Francisco office 5 days a week.
• Collaborate with engineers across disciplines to design, build, and test hardware and test infrastructure.
• Define program timelines, milestones and critical path; drive execution of key milestones.

Skills

Strong technical background

Excellent communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Eligibility to work in the US

In-person 5 days a week

Mechanical/Mechatronics background

Education

Second year undergraduate in Mechanical/Mechatronics (Masters/PhD eligible)

Job description

• Zipline's Program Management team is responsible for ensuring that Zipline achieves our company goals on time and on budget
• Our PMs are embedded across our 6 hardware teams and work directly with engineers of many disciplines to design, build, and test our drones and ground infrastructure. Program managers define their team's priorities and drive execution of key milestones in a constantly changing environment
• Understand and mitigate technical and program risks to keep Zipline's future programs on track. Drive decision making and trade off studies
• Define program timelines, milestones and critical path
• Manage and support cross-functional teams across electrical and mechanical engineering, design validation, and embedded software domains to build and execute a plan to develop new hardware
• Drive prototype and test activities to validate next generation hardware designs
• Report program updates to leadership
• Manage new infrastructure builds for our test campaigns and track hardware sample allocations
• Organize and facilitate meetings with cross-functional teams
• Work closely with cross-functional groups to track incoming parts and quality
• Manage upcoming hardware changes to meet company targets
• Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco or Dallas office. We will host our Spring 2027 interns from January to April/May

• Demonstrated skill in aligning priorities, coordinating timelines, and leading complex scope, resource, and schedule trades
• Must be able to work in person at Zipline's South San Francisco office 5 days a week
• Must be eligible to work in the US
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain challenges and solutions to fellow engineers and non-engineers alike
• Enthusiasm for collaborating in a fast paced and highly cross-functional environment
• Strong technical background
• Must have at least completed the second year of your undergraduate studies or equivalent in Mechanical or Mechatronics Engineering. Masters and PhD students are also eligible
• Extreme ownership and a bias for action
• Ability to pick up technical concepts rapidly
• Ability to drive clarity amidst chaos and ambiguity
• We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.