System Test Automation Intern (Fall 2026)

🏢 Summary: Software engineering role focused on building and maintaining hardware-in-the-loop test infrastructure and validation tools for autonomous drone systems. The position involves developing scalable automated testing frameworks, supporting flight test operations, and validating embedded and cloud software for safety-critical logistics systems. 🗂️ Requirements: 4+ years of software engineering experience in safety-critical hardware-backed systems, Experience with Python, Experience with pytest, Experience testing Rust embedded systems, Experience testing C embedded systems, Experience with CI/CD, Experience developing and executing test plans for embedded and cloud software, Ability to debug complex software and hardware validation issues 📃 Skills: Python, pytest, Rust, C, CI/CD, Linux, HIL, Embedded 🏢 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 Zipline is looking for software engineers to build the tools and infrastructure that power our systems validation and flight test organizations. This team develops precise, efficient, and scalable software solutions used to validate aircraft and ground systems at every level. Our work spans everything from integrating real avionics, sensors, actuators, and radios with high-fidelity simulated environments in bench-top Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) setups, to building applications that plan, orchestrate, and evaluate thousands of automated nominal and off-nominal real-world flight tests every day. This role directly impacts the speed, confidence, and quality of hardware and software development at Zipline. In this role, you will develop a deep understanding of Zipline's end-to-end logistics system and work closely with cross-functional partners who rely on your tools to deliver reliable, flight-ready software. Most importantly, the systems you build will serve as the final line of defense before software and hardware is deployed globally to perform critical, real-world deliveries. What You'll Do - Design, develop, and maintain HIL test infrastructure that integrates real aircraft hardware with simulated systems and environments. - Develop software tools, frameworks, and services to enable large-scale automated and semi-automated system validation. - Support a high-throughput flight test organization running thousands of daily tests, from targeted regression tests to rare off-nominal scenarios. - Write and maintain test software, drivers, and interfaces for embedded and Linux-based systems. - Support test framework architecture designs and improvements. - Debug complex validation failures spanning simulation, hardware, firmware, and application software. - Collaborate with flight test engineers, systems engineers, avionics, autonomy and embedded software teams to define system-level validation strategies. - Improve test reliability, debuggability, and signal-to-noise as systems and test volume scale. What You'll Bring - 4+ years of experience in software engineering for complex, hardware-backed, safety-critical systems. - Extensive experience in Python, specifically using test systems (e.g. pytest). - Experience testing Rust and/or C embedded systems. - Extensive experience working with CI/CD. - Experience developing and executing test plans for complex, safety critical, embedded and cloud software. - Strong problem-solving and ability to quickly learn a new system for testing purposes. What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Senior Integration & Test Software Engineer role focused on building and owning software-driven SIL, HIL, and EOLT test systems for autonomous delivery drones. The position involves developing automation, integrating embedded hardware and software, supporting production operations, and improving fleet reliability at scale. The role requires strong cross-functional collaboration, production support, and hands-on work with embedded systems and factory test infrastructure. 🗂️ Requirements: 5+ years building integration and test software interfacing with hardware, Strong Python skills, Strong C/C++ skills, Linux system administration experience, Experience with CI and Git, Experience with test automation frameworks, Hands-on embedded systems experience, Experience with board bring-up and instrumentation, Experience with HIL/SIL/EOL test architectures, Experience building automation for factory or safety-critical environments, Ability to own cross-disciplinary test programs end-to-end, Ability to work onsite in South San Francisco regularly, Willingness to participate in on-call rotations and travel up to 20% 📃 Skills: Python, C++, C, Linux, Git, CI, SIL, HIL, EOLT, DAQ, Automation, Embedded, Oscilloscopes, Instrumentation 🏢 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 You will be the Senior Integration & Test Software Engineer (Long Range Platform) owning software-driven test systems that validate our long-range delivery drones across engineering, manufacturing, and fleet operations. Zipline's mission to deliver critical goods at scale depends on test systems that catch failures before flight and enable rapid, reliable product iterations. You will operate at the intersection of embedded flight code, factory automation, and field operations: designing, deploying, and sustaining turnkey SIL/HIL/EOLT test rigs and automation that directly affect throughput, defect rates, and fleet reliability in production and operational deployments. What You'll Do - Own end-to-end delivery of test systems (SIL, HIL, EOLT, bench rigs) from prototype through production deployment and field sustainment. You are the technical owner accountable for schedules, acceptance criteria, and production readiness. - Ship measurable improvements: define and meet targets such as test coverage %, mean time to detect (MTTD) critical failures, reduction in test cycle time, and defect escape rate reductions tied to your systems. - Architect, implement, and maintain software that runs and orchestrates test sequences, data capture, analysis, and reporting. Build automation and dashboards used by manufacturing engineers and test operators. - Integrate software with hardware under test: board bring-up, sensor calibration, motion systems, power systems, and DAQ instruments. Validate against datasheets and representative hardware in lab and factory settings. - Lead investigations and root-cause analysis for failures discovered in test or production, produce corrective plans, and drive fixes to closure with engineering and operations stakeholders. - Define and enforce test standards, pass/fail criteria, and validation protocols used across products and production lines. Own CI/validation pipelines that gate changes to flight or manufacturing systems. - Work cross-functionally with embedded firmware, hardware, manufacturing engineering, supply chain, and field ops to deploy test systems at scale; coordinate vendor hardware and field installation when required. - Support on-call and production escalation cadence for systems you own. Travel to manufacturing or distribution sites as required. What You'll Bring - Proven history owning cross-disciplinary test or integration programs end-to-end. - 5+ years building integration/test software that interfaces with hardware. - Strong Python and C/C++ skills. - Linux system administration experience. - Experience with CI, Git, and test automation frameworks. - Hands-on experience with embedded systems, board bring-up, instrumentation, and interpreting datasheets. - Experience with HIL/SIL/EOL test architectures. - Experience building automation used in factory or safety-critical environments. - Demonstrated record of delivering systems with measurable impact on throughput, yield, defect reduction, or reliability improvements. - Comfortable with high-impact deadlines, on-call rotations, and occasional site travel. - Ability to drive cross-functional technical decisions and define acceptance criteria. - Ability to work regularly onsite in South San Francisco. - Visa sponsorship available. What Else You Need to Know Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. We value diversity and welcome applications from those traditionally underrepresented in tech.

🏢 Summary: Senior Flight Test Engineer role focused on leading end-to-end flight test campaigns for autonomous drone delivery systems, validating hardware and software readiness, and building automated testing infrastructure. The position involves analyzing flight data, coordinating with cross-functional engineering teams, and supporting global deployment readiness for critical logistics operations. 🗂️ Requirements: 3+ years experience with autonomous robotic systems, Experience with UAS systems, Ability to analyze large test data sets, Experience debugging hardware and software systems, Systems-level understanding of structures, aerodynamics, embedded systems, and software, Experience maintaining safety in fast-paced environments, Willingness to travel internationally and domestically, Ability to work outdoors in varying weather conditions 📃 Skills: UAS, Robotics, Aerodynamics, Embedded, Software, Automation, Testing, Debugging, Logistics, Data 🏢 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 Zipline operates autonomous delivery systems that move critical goods through real-world airspace and logistics environments. As a Senior Flight Test Engineer you will lead comprehensive flight test campaigns and integrate automated testing infrastructure into our flight test program. In this role, you will develop a deep understanding of Zipline's end-to-end logistics system and work closely with cross-functional partners to generate rapid insights into changes across hardware, software, and operations. Your work will serve as the final line of defense before software or hardware are deployed globally to perform critical real-world deliveries. You will own system-level flight test campaigns from planning through execution and analysis. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys translating complex engineering questions into effective test programs and using data and automation to accelerate learning. What You'll Do - Develop and lead end-to-end flight test campaigns validating aircraft performance, delivery and pick up operations, docking systems, and fleet orchestration. - Define system-level objectives, success criteria, and test plans with mechanical, electrical, software, systems and operations partners. - Assess hardware and software readiness, evaluate risk posture, and make flight-readiness decisions before test execution. - Analyze flight data to identify anomalies, trends, and opportunities for continuous improvement. - Produce deployment-readiness recommendations and prioritized corrective actions from campaign evidence. - Build and integrate automated test tooling that improves test precision, insight, capacity, and velocity. What You'll Bring - 3+ years designing, developing, or validating autonomous robotic systems; UAS experience is preferred. - Strong ability to analyze and interpret large test data sets for engineering decisions. - Experience bringing up and debugging hardware and software systems for automated platforms. - Systems-level reasoning across structures, aerodynamics, embedded systems, and software. - Sound judgment about when to move quickly with pragmatic solutions and when to invest in durable infrastructure, process and tooling. - Experience maintaining and enforcing safety in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment. - Willingness to travel domestically and internationally for flight testing, approximately 2–6 weeks per year, and work outdoors in varying weather conditions. What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Engineering role focused on developing and operating validation systems and automated test infrastructure for battery and power electronics hardware used in autonomous delivery aircraft. Responsibilities include designing test equipment, executing environmental and reliability testing, analyzing failures, and improving laboratory automation and validation processes across multiple hardware programs. 🗂️ Requirements: Experience developing validation systems or engineering test infrastructure for electromechanical products, Experience designing and building custom test equipment and automated validation systems, Mechanical design experience with CAD software, Knowledge of measurement systems, sensors, DAQ hardware, instrumentation, and electrical power systems, Experience with environmental, vibration, thermal, fatigue, reliability, or safety testing, Ability to analyze data, identify failure modes, and provide engineering recommendations, Experience developing automated test software, Strong written and verbal technical communication skills 📃 Skills: Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB, TestStand, NX, SolidWorks, CAD, DAQ, Instrumentation, Automation, Sensors, Electrical, Mechanical, Validation, Testing 🏢 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 Zipline builds autonomous delivery aircraft and ground systems that operate daily in varying field conditions. You will develop the validation systems and test infrastructure that ensure battery and power electronics hardware is safe, reliable, manufacturable, and ready for deployment. The Battery & Power Electronics team is responsible for delivering power throughout the aircraft—including batteries, power distribution systems, busbars, and power connectors. In this role, you'll design, build, automate, and operate the systems that validate these products throughout development, qualification, manufacturing, and field support. This role is open to engineers at all levels. Scope and ownership grow with experience—from developing individual fixtures and executing validation tests to leading validation strategy, architecting complex test systems, and defining engineering standards across multiple programs. What You'll Do Own end-to-end delivery of validation systems from requirements → design → build → automation → execution → analysis → release → production support. Typical Responsibilities - Design and build mechanical, electrical, and software-integrated test equipment for battery cells, battery packs, power electronics, busbars, and power distribution hardware. - Develop validation strategies covering functional, environmental, vibration, thermal, abuse, reliability, and durability testing for safety-critical power systems. - Design custom fixtures, instrumentation, wiring harnesses, power distribution systems, and data acquisition hardware capable of repeatable, high-throughput testing. - Develop automated test sequences, data collection, and analysis workflows that improve test repeatability, reduce operator effort, and accelerate engineering feedback. - Plan and execute battery characterization, DV&P/R, vibration, thermal cycling, shock, crash, fire mitigation, fatigue, ingress protection, and electrical validation campaigns. - Own test readiness reviews, equipment qualification, calibration strategy, operating procedures, and laboratory safety documentation. - Analyze failures using instrumentation, teardown inspections, root cause analysis, and statistical methods, partnering with design engineers to implement corrective actions. - Partner daily with Systems, Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Reliability, Manufacturing, Supplier Quality, Integration & Test, and Field Operations to translate engineering questions into efficient, data-driven validation plans. - Develop scalable test infrastructure supporting engineering development, manufacturing validation, supplier qualification, and fleet investigations. - Support supplier qualification, acceptance testing, and failure investigations for externally manufactured hardware. - Contribute to engineering standards, laboratory best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives. As scope increases, lead technical reviews, mentor teammates, and define validation strategy across multiple programs. Engineer II - Independently owns validation equipment and test campaigns for individual subsystems. - Designs custom fixtures, automation, and data acquisition systems. - Troubleshoots complex test issues and partners with cross-functional teams to resolve failures. Senior Engineer - Leads development of complex validation systems supporting major hardware programs. - Defines validation approaches, mentors engineers, and improves laboratory capabilities. - Drives automation, test infrastructure improvements, and cross-functional technical decisions. Staff Engineer (Lead Engineer) - Defines validation strategy across multiple programs. - Establishes engineering standards for test equipment, automation, instrumentation, and laboratory operations. - Leads major cross-functional initiatives that improve engineering quality, development velocity, and organizational capability. - Serves as the technical authority for large-scale validation systems and laboratory infrastructure. What You'll Bring - Experience developing validation systems, production test equipment, or engineering test infrastructure for complex electromechanical products appropriate to your career level. - Experience designing and building custom test equipment, fixtures, instrumentation, or automated validation systems. - Strong mechanical design skills using NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent CAD software for developing robust laboratory equipment and fixtures. - Strong understanding of measurement systems, sensors, DAQ hardware, instrumentation, electrical power systems, and laboratory best practices. - Experience planning and executing environmental, vibration, fatigue, thermal, abuse, reliability, or safety testing. - Ability to design experiments, analyze data, identify failure modes, and communicate actionable engineering recommendations. - Experience developing automated test software using Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB, NI Test Stand, or similar platforms is preferred. - Demonstrated ability to improve test throughput, repeatability, automation, or laboratory efficiency. - Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to clearly communicate technical findings and recommendations. What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Lead the systems engineering team for autonomous drone logistics platforms, defining product architecture, verification, and safety-critical system capabilities at global scale. The role focuses on scaling autonomous aircraft operations, optimizing performance and safety, and driving cross-functional technical roadmaps for complex real-world environments. 🗂️ Requirements: Leadership experience delivering complex technical systems, Experience with safety-critical autonomous systems, Systems engineering expertise, Architecture and interface definition experience, Verification and validation planning experience, Fault-tolerant and fail-safe systems knowledge, Tradeoff analysis using models and metrics, Cross-functional communication skills, Team mentoring and technical leadership 📃 Skills: Systems, Autonomy, Architecture, Verification, Validation, Safety, FaultTolerance, Modeling, Optimization, Metrics, Testing, Regulatory, Hardware, Software, Logistics, Aerospace 🏢 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 You will lead the systems engineering team responsible for defining the product capabilities roadmap, decomposing those capabilities into concrete architectures engineering teams can deliver on, and system validation & verification of new capabilities across our current platforms as well as new and novel autonomous aircraft concepts. In 2026, we will scale Platform 2 deliveries per day by 10x while we ramp range by 5x - so, we'll fly 50x further every day than we do today. We'll do that while ramping into significantly more complex airspaces and environmental conditions across 5 metros in the US. Then, in 2027 we'll make a similar 10x+ jump while expanding across the globe. This is a key leadership position to find the right path for enabling safe scaling into complex environments, defining architectures to achieve safety and cost goals over hardware and software revisions, and balancing competing objectives such as range, acoustics, delivery throughput, and cost. What You'll Do Scope: Product level requirements, architecture and decomposition, verification plans, operational performance monitoring of key product attributes and functions including: - Network Optimization & Capacity - Aircraft Autonomy - Flight Performance - Operational Design Domain / Operating Envelope - Flight Reliability and Fault Management Responsibilities: - Serve as a trusted technical expert of high-reliability, safety-critical autonomous systems owning system level architecture, requirements, metrics, and test coverage to ensure product capabilities are delivered safely - Define interfaces and drive cross-disciplinary discussions to align on architectures - Develop frameworks and facilitate trade studies to optimize performance, safety, and cost - Create and maintain systems models and diagrams - Set standards for hardware and software releases and test requirements - Partner with safety engineering and regulatory teams to prove flight worthiness Leadership: - Grow and mentor a world-class Systems Engineering team and adjacent teams - Drive multi-year technical roadmap across the product What You'll Bring - Demonstrated leadership delivering complex technical solutions amid ambiguity and competing priorities - Track record of shipping high-reliability, safety-critical autonomous systems into real-world operation - Deep systems engineering experience with product requirements, architecture, interface definition, system decomposition, verification planning, and validation - Technical judgment in safety-critical autonomy including fail-safe, fault-tolerant, and fail-operative approaches - Experience making tradeoffs among safety, performance, cost, and operational constraints using models, metrics, and test evidence - Ability to develop technical leaders and communicate system decisions across engineering, safety, regulatory, and operational teams What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity and welcome applications from those traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply.

🏢 Summary: Senior Software Engineer role focused on autonomy motion planning for large-scale drone delivery systems, developing real-time trajectory generation, decision-making, and safety-critical software for autonomous flight. The position involves optimization, simulation, and validation of autonomous systems operating in complex real-world environments. 🗂️ Requirements: Master's degree in Computer Science or related field, 3+ years building software for safety-critical systems, Experience with autonomous systems in aerospace, AV, or robotics, Strong proficiency in Rust, Strong proficiency in C++, Strong proficiency in C, Experience with real-time fault-tolerant embedded/Linux development, Expertise in planning and search algorithms, Experience with trajectory optimization and MPC, Hands-on experience with SIL/HIL simulation and log replay, Experience shipping production-grade autonomy systems, Ability to collaborate with perception, controls, and flight operations teams 📃 Skills: Rust, C++, C, Linux, MPC, A*, RRT*, SIL, HIL, Robotics, Autonomy, Simulation, Optimization, Embedded 🏢 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 Zipline operates the world's largest autonomous logistics system (ground or air) — and in the coming year, we will be hyper-scaling from thousands to tens of thousands of carefully coordinated drone deliveries in several dense, dynamic U.S. metros. Our Autonomy Motion Planning team is looking for a Senior Software Engineer who is passionate about developing autonomous systems for the real world. This role will explore cutting-edge approaches to decision making and trajectory planning that will enable more accurate and timely deliveries, putting you in the position to make critical product decisions that will shape our future architectures. What You'll Do - Build real-time trajectory generation and decision-making for autonomous flight (search-based, sampling, MPC, convex/non-convex optimization). - Tackle joint optimization across safety, energy, time, and reliability—balancing mission goals with vehicle constraints. - Plan in uncertain environments with complex dynamics: robustness to wind/turbulence, degraded sensors, and partial observability. - Design safety-critical software for avoiding obstacles and interfacing with humans while delivering and picking up packages. - Extend the autonomy stack for new aircraft and payloads; define clean interfaces with perception and controls. - Prove it before flight: large-scale sim, SIL/HIL, log replay, and fault-injection. - Mine real fleet data to validate safety metrics, improve models, and burn down long-tail failure modes. What You'll Bring - Master's degree in Computer Science or related field and 3+ years of experience building software for safety-critical systems (aerospace/AV/robotics). - Strong in Rust/C++/C for real-time, fault-tolerant code on embedded/Linux. - Depth in planning & search (e.g. A*/ anytime / RRT*/sampling), trajectory optimization/MPC—shipped on real robots/vehicles. - Hands-on with simulation at scale, SIL/HIL, log replay, and metrics-driven validation. - Evidence of shipping production-grade autonomy through ambiguous, noisy conditions—owning the last mile to reliability. - Systems thinker who collaborates tightly with perception, controls, and flight ops; crisp docs and design reviews. What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Engineering role focused on designing and developing electromechanical test equipment for validating battery and power electronics systems used in autonomous delivery aircraft. The position involves building custom mechanical test systems, integrating automation and instrumentation, and supporting crash, structural, and environmental validation programs. Responsibilities scale with experience, from subsystem ownership to leading validation infrastructure strategy across aircraft programs. 🗂️ Requirements: Experience designing mechanical systems or engineering test equipment, Strong mechanical design skills, Proficiency with CAD software, Knowledge of machine design and structural analysis, Experience with GD&T and tolerance analysis, Experience performing FEA and hand calculations, Familiarity with hydraulic or pneumatic actuation systems, Experience designing welded and machined assemblies, Hands-on experience assembling and troubleshooting mechanical equipment, Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams 📃 Skills: NX, SolidWorks, CAD, FEA, GD&T, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Servo-electric, Automation, Instrumentation, Structural, Manufacturing 🏢 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 Zipline builds autonomous delivery aircraft and ground systems that operate daily in varied field conditions. Reliable products begin with reliable validation. As an Electromechanical Test Equipment Design Engineer, you will own the design and development of the test systems that enable engineers to characterize, validate, qualify, and manufacture battery and power electronics hardware with confidence. The Battery & Power Electronics team is responsible for delivering power throughout the aircraft—including batteries, power distribution systems, busbars, and power connectors. You will develop custom test equipment integrating mechanical design, electrical hardware, instrumentation, controls, automation, and software to create robust, scalable systems that accelerate product development and generate accurate, repeatable engineering data. This role is open to engineers at all levels. Responsibilities and scope will scale with experience—from owning individual fixtures and subsystems to leading the architecture and strategy for complex validation infrastructure spanning multiple aircraft programs. What You'll Do • Own end-to-end development of crash safety equipment from requirements through concept, design, fabrication, commissioning, validation, and continuous improvement. • Design and develop custom mechanical test equipment supporting impact, crush, penetration, drop, abuse, fire, vibration, and structural testing of batteries and aircraft hardware. • Design structural frames, fixtures, reaction structures, containment systems, mounting interfaces, and mechanisms capable of safely supporting high-energy testing. • Develop systems utilizing hydraulic, pneumatic, servo-electric, and mechanical actuation to apply controlled static and dynamic loading. • Perform engineering analyses including hand calculations, tolerance stacks, bolted joint design, load path analysis, FEA, fatigue assessments, and failure mode evaluations to ensure equipment performance and operator safety. • Produce CAD assemblies, detailed drawings, GD&T, bills of materials, and manufacturing documentation for fabricated and machined assemblies. • Design equipment with operator safety as a primary requirement, incorporating guarding, interlocks, energy isolation, debris containment, fire mitigation, and ergonomic considerations. • Partner with electrical, controls, and software engineers to integrate instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition, and automation into mechanical test systems. • Build, commission, troubleshoot, validate, and continuously improve laboratory equipment to maximize safety, repeatability, throughput, and maintainability. • Support crash safety, abuse, and structural validation campaigns by rapidly developing new test capability and modifying existing equipment. • Work closely with Mechanical Design, Reliability, Systems Engineering, Manufacturing, Integration & Test, and Safety teams to translate validation requirements into practical engineering solutions. • Lead supplier engagement for fabricated equipment, machined components, welded structures, hydraulic systems, and custom mechanical assemblies. What You'll Bring • Experience designing mechanical systems, structural equipment, automated machinery, manufacturing equipment, or engineering test equipment appropriate to your career level. • Strong mechanical design skills using NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent CAD software. • Strong engineering fundamentals including machine design, structural analysis, GD&T, tolerance analysis, hand calculations, bolted joints, fatigue, material selection, and design for manufacturing. • Experience performing structural analysis using hand calculations and FEA. • Familiarity with hydraulic, pneumatic, servo-electric, or other high-force actuation systems. • Experience designing welded structures, machined assemblies, and fabricated equipment. • Hands-on experience assembling, commissioning, troubleshooting, and improving mechanical equipment. • Experience supporting crash, impact, abuse, structural, environmental, or durability testing is preferred. • Demonstrated ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams and communicate technical tradeoffs effectively. What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Cell Test Engineer role focused on developing and executing battery cell validation programs for autonomous delivery aircraft. The position involves testing lithium-ion cell performance, safety, aging, and reliability using advanced laboratory instrumentation and automation tools. Engineers will collaborate across battery, systems, manufacturing, and supplier teams to improve aircraft battery systems and support product development decisions. 🗂️ Requirements: Experience in battery cell engineering or validation engineering, Experience with battery cell characterization, life testing, abuse testing, or reliability testing, Strong understanding of lithium-ion battery chemistry, degradation, thermal behavior, and electrical performance, Experience operating battery cyclers, environmental chambers, DAQ systems, and laboratory instrumentation, Experience developing automated test software or data analysis tools, Ability to design experiments and analyze large experimental datasets, Familiarity with battery safety standards and abuse testing methodologies, Experience with thermocouples, RTDs, voltage and current measurement, impedance measurement, and thermal imaging, Strong written and verbal technical communication skills 📃 Skills: Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, DAQ, RTDs, thermocouples, lithium-ion, thermal, instrumentation, automation, cyclers, impedance, thermal-imaging 🏢 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 Zipline builds autonomous delivery aircraft and ground systems that operate daily in demanding field environments. The performance, reliability, and safety of our aircraft begin at the battery cell. As a Cell Test Engineer, you will develop the test systems, methodologies, and data that characterize cell performance, validate new technologies, and improve the safety and reliability of our battery systems. The Battery & Power Electronics team is responsible for delivering power throughout the aircraft—from individual cells to complete battery packs and power distribution systems. You will design and execute experiments that evaluate electrical performance, thermal behavior, degradation, abuse tolerance, and lifetime across multiple cell technologies, enabling critical engineering and sourcing decisions. This role is open to engineers at all levels. Responsibilities and technical scope will be matched to experience, with opportunities to grow from owning individual test programs to defining cell validation strategy across multiple aircraft platforms. What You'll Do - Own end-to-end development of cell validation programs from requirements → experiment design → execution → analysis → engineering recommendations → continuous improvement. - Develop and execute cell characterization programs evaluating capacity, impedance, power capability, efficiency, thermal behavior, and aging performance. - Design validation plans covering electrical, thermal, environmental, mechanical, and abuse testing to qualify cells for drone applications. - Design experiments that evaluate cycle life, calendar aging, fast charging, temperature performance, storage conditions, and operational limits. - Develop custom fixtures, instrumentation, wiring, thermal interfaces, and automation supporting repeatable, high-throughput cell testing. - Operate and improve battery cyclers, environmental chambers, thermal measurement systems, DAQ equipment, and laboratory instrumentation. - Develop automated test scripts, data processing pipelines, and reporting tools using Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, or equivalent software. - Analyze large experimental datasets to identify degradation mechanisms, performance trends, failure modes, and opportunities for optimization. - Perform post-test teardown inspections and correlate electrical performance with mechanical and thermal observations. - Support abuse testing including crush, penetration, thermal runaway propagation, overcharge, short circuit, vibration, shock, and environmental exposure. - Work closely with battery design, systems engineering, reliability, manufacturing, and suppliers to define validation plans and support product development decisions. - Develop laboratory procedures, calibration methods, safety documentation, and standardized test methodologies that improve repeatability and engineering efficiency. - Support supplier qualification, incoming cell validation, technology benchmarking, and root cause investigations involving field-return hardware. What You'll Bring - Experience in battery cell engineering, electrochemical testing, energy storage systems, or validation engineering appropriate to your career level. - Experience developing or executing battery cell characterization, life testing, abuse testing, or reliability testing. - Strong understanding of lithium-ion battery fundamentals including cell chemistry, degradation mechanisms, thermal behavior, and electrical performance. - Experience operating battery cyclers, environmental chambers, DAQ systems, thermal instrumentation, and laboratory equipment. - Experience developing automated test software or data analysis tools using Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, or equivalent platforms. - Ability to design experiments using statistical methods and interpret large experimental datasets. - Familiarity with battery safety standards and abuse testing methodologies. - Experience with instrumentation including thermocouples, RTDs, current and voltage measurement, impedance measurement, and thermal imaging. - Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate technical findings and influence engineering decisions. What Else You Need To Know 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Hands-on Flight Test Operator role focused on executing and validating drone flight test campaigns for autonomous aircraft from prototype through production readiness. The position involves flight operations, troubleshooting hardware and software issues, safety management, and coordination with engineering teams in onsite field environments. Candidates must hold FAA Part 107 certification and have experience piloting drones or manned aircraft. 🗂️ Requirements: FAA Part 107 certification, Experience piloting drones or manned aircraft, Ability to execute and own end-to-end flight test campaigns, Experience with preflight checklists and go/no-go flight decisions, Ability to troubleshoot hardware and software issues onsite, Experience documenting and escalating safety incidents, Ability to work outdoors in field conditions, Ability to lift and move 50+ lb equipment, Availability for weekends, night shifts, and regional travel 📃 Skills: FAA, Drones, Avionics, Linux, 3Dprinting, Machining, FlightSystems, Diagnostics, Troubleshooting, Testing 🏢 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 You are a hands-on Flight Test Operator focused on bringing early-stage Zipline aircraft from prototype through production bring-up. You will execute, iterate, and sign off on flight operations that validate airworthiness, avionics/software integration, and field-deployable procedures that enable drone delivery at scale. You'll work at Zipline's test site(s) and coordinate closely with vehicle engineering, software, safety, manufacturing, and field operations to turn early stage flight software into reliable, release-ready aircraft. This role matters because timely, rigorous flight validation reduces deployment risk, shortens product development cycles, and directly affects delivery reliability for our customers. What You'll Do - Own end-to-end daily flight test campaign execution - Act as Remote Pilot in Command for Zipline's Autonomous Aircraft - Execute mission profiles, feature testing, and fault injection testing - Validate functionality through repeatable ground and flight test procedures - Troubleshoot and repair software and hardware issues on-site to return aircraft to flight - Summarize test results and provide qualitative and quantitative analysis on aircraft performance - Escalate flight performance anomalies to engineering and safety teams - Enforce and improve site safety, manage risks for prototype flights, run briefings and debriefs, and refine SOPs - Work onsite at outdoor test sites with weekends, night shifts, and occasional regional travel What You'll Bring - FAA Part 107 certification required at time of joining - Experience piloting drones or manned aircraft - Demonstrated aeronautical decision making and accountability - Experience creating preflight checklists and escalating safety incidents with documentation - Comfortable working in iterative field environments with rapid diagnostics and repairs - Ability to lift and move 50+ lb equipment and work outdoors for multi-hour test windows - Proven ability to own test campaigns end-to-end and coordinate across engineering, safety, and manufacturing - Nice-to-have: Linux command-line comfort, rapid prototyping skills such as 3D printing and basic machining, and experience with automated flight systems What Else You Need To Know - Full-time position - Starting cash range: $37 - $45 per hour 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. We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

🏢 Summary: Internship focused on building and improving autonomous drone mapping and routing systems, including path planning services, spatial data pipelines, and geospatial analytics tools. The role involves developing scalable solutions for safe and efficient drone operations while working on real-world routing and optimization challenges. This is a full-time, in-person Fall 2026 internship based in South San Francisco. 🗂️ Requirements: Completed at least second year of undergraduate studies, Strong analytical and technical problem-solving skills, Deep understanding of algorithmic optimization, Proficient coding and programming skills, Understanding of automated testing practices 📃 Skills: Python, Algorithms, Geospatial, Routing, Optimization, Testing, GIS, Spatial, Analytics 🏢 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 Maps Team Zipline builds and operates autonomous delivery systems that enable fast, reliable, and sustainable delivery for businesses and consumers, transforming how goods move in everyday commerce. To power this, the Maps Team is building out the long term scalable solutions that enable us to fly in new countries and regions as rapidly as possible. This team is responsible for building tools and services that produce artifacts used by our vehicles to fly their missions in the real world. This means the outputs from the Maps Team define the places our vehicles will fly in the world, their constraints, and provide strong priors for the real-time system on the vehicle to follow to accomplish its mission safely. The Role In this role you will contribute to, build, and own portions of Zipline's Maps stack. That includes contributing to an extensible path planning service used for generating routes that are operationally flown every day. It also includes a suite of services for data generation, transformation and access for path planning and flight data analytics. Your work within the team could range from path planning algorithms, validation of artifacts for compliance with flight requirements, to spatial data generation and data transformation pipelines. Your work will help us achieve multi-objective routing and efficient spatial data ingestion and access, enabling Zipline to serve more customers around the world. From this internship, you can expect to learn about how theoretical path planning algorithms are adapted for a real world problem, and how data and spatial search interact to enable routing in air. Our ideal candidate works well in startup environments, is comfortable wearing many hats, and is excited to learn about many aspects of how Zipline's spatial planning works today. What You'll Do - Work on services that generate routes and spatial planning artifacts - Use tools to visualize and evaluate geospatial features that impact serviceability - Work with teams to make spatial data accessible instantaneously anywhere in the world - Improve planning algorithms to make routing fast, safe, and reliable Examples of Previous Internship Projects - Prototyping a new path planning algorithm to enhance long-range routes - Incorporating multidimensional risk data into the routing engine - Creating tooling for generating composite Digital Elevation Models - Building infrastructure to enable drones to survey large areas What You'll Bring - Must have at least completed the second year of Undergraduate studies. Masters and PhD students are also eligible - Strong analytical and technical problem solving skills - Deep understanding of algorithmic optimization - Proficient coding and programming skills - Understanding of automated testing practices - Preferred experience supporting or developing novel algorithmic research - Preferred experience with spatial data What Else You Should Know This internship is a full-time position, in-person at our South San Francisco office. We will host our Fall 2026 interns from September to December. 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.