Technical Writer Intern

Socket.dev; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Zipline is seeking a rigorous Technical Writer to join the Technical Writing team in California. You will translate complex engineering and operations information into clear manuals, guides, and onboarding materials that support safe, effective work across Zipline’s products and processes.

You will collaborate with engineers, operations, and support to understand systems, organize content around user tasks, and publish updates with accuracy and timeliness, ensuring accessible documentation for

Qualifications

• Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English, rhetoric and composition, technical or professional writing, journalism, communications, information science, computer science, or related field.
• Strong editing and writing skills; aim for accuracy, clarity, conciseness.
• Ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Willingness to learn from technical source material.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail for structuring complex information.
• Ability to think both logically and creatively about information organization.
• Collaborative, self-directed, and able to receive feedback while delivering on defined projects.

Responsibilities

• Documentation Quality: Review and improve manuals, procedures, guides, and other content for clarity, accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, and usability.
• Training and Guide Refresh: Update materials to reflect current product behavior and broaden audience reach.
• Information Architecture: Improve site navigation and content structure around user tasks and workflows.
• Troubleshooting Guide Structure: Reorganize troubleshooting pages to lead users clearly into steps.
• Contributor Onboarding: Clarify prerequisites, setup, guidelines, and review expectations for contributions.
• Technical Understanding: Read technical material and identify documentation gaps.
• Review and Collaboration: Work with engineers and operations to validate accuracy and flow.

Skills

Writing and editing

Technical communication

Technical curiosity

Organization & information design

Logical thinking

Collaboration & independence

Education

Bachelor's degree in English or related field

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 You and The Role

The Technical Writing team builds and maintains a dependable documentation system that supports safe, effective work across Zipline’s products and operations.

We partner with engineering, operations, and support to translate complex technical and operational information into clear manuals, procedures, guides, references, onboarding materials, and troubleshooting content.

Our work spans the full documentation lifecycle, from understanding user needs and how systems operate to organizing, editing, reviewing, and publishing content.

We set a high bar for accuracy, clarity, consistency, usability, and timeliness while making it easier for people to find the right information at the right time.

What You'll Do

• Documentation Quality: Help review and improve manuals, procedures, guides, and other content for clarity, accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, and usability.
• Training and Guide Refresh: Update materials to reflect current product behavior, use timeless language, and broaden content for the audiences and products it serves.
• Information Architecture: Improve site navigation and content structure around user tasks and workflows so readers can reach the right information more easily.
• Troubleshooting Guide Structure: Reorganize troubleshooting pages so context, prerequisites, and supporting information lead clearly into step-by-step guidance.
• Contributor Onboarding: Simplify onboarding documentation by clarifying prerequisites, setup, contribution guidelines, review expectations, and the path from a proposed change to published content.
• Technical Understanding: Read technical source material, ask questions about how systems and processes operate, and help identify documentation gaps or opportunities for improvement.
• Review and Collaboration: Work with technical writers, engineers, and operations partners to validate accuracy, check clarity and page flow, and incorporate feedback.

What You'll Bring

• Educational Background: Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in English, Rhetoric and Composition, Technical or Professional Writing, Journalism, Communications, Information Science, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Writing and Editing: Strong editing and writing skills, with the ability to make documentation accurate, clear, specific, complete, and concise.
• Technical Communication: Ability to explain technical concepts to people with different levels of technical familiarity.
• Technical Curiosity: Interest in learning how software, hardware, and operational systems work, and willingness to learn from technical source material.
• Organization and Information Design: Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, including the ability to structure complex information, evaluate priorities, and manage multiple documentation tasks.
• Logical and Creative Thinking: Ability to think logically and creatively about how information should be structured for different audiences and tasks.
• Collaboration and Independence: Collaborative, self-directed, and comfortable receiving feedback while making progress on defined projects.

Bonus Qualifications:

• Experience with version-controlled documentation workflows or content management systems.
• Experience creating documentation for software, hardware, operations, or other complex technical domains.
• Experience using AI tools to draft, edit, or review content, with an interest in developing responsible editorial workflows.
• Interest in robotics, aviation, logistics, service operations, or other technical products.

What Else You Need to Know

The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more.

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.

Please Note

We have received reports stating that certain individuals are reaching out to people under false pretenses, claiming to be Zipline employees, affiliates, agents, or representatives. They may seek to gain access to your personal information or to acquire money from you by offering fictitious employment opportunities or by claiming that they are contacting you on Zipline’s behalf.

Genuine Zipline employees or representatives will never ask you for money or payment in exchange for employment opportunities or other related services. Any such offer of employment or any other service in exchange for fees that claims to be from us is deceitful and part of a fraud.

If you believe you have been targeted by a fraudulent party, we ask that you immediately get in touch with us via email at [e-mail] upon receiving a suspicious offer or claim.

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.