Hardware Test Intern (Summer 2027)

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.

The Hardware Test Team plays a critical role in ensuring the performance, reliability, and safety of the systems that power Zipline’s life-saving delivery drones. As a cross-functional group supporting multiple hardware engineering domains, we design and execute rigorous testing strategies across avionics, power systems, mechanical assemblies, sensors, and other mission-critical components. Operating at the intersection of hardware and software, we validate integrated systems under real-world and simulated conditions to ensure our products perform flawlessly in some of the most demanding environments on Earth. Our work directly advances Zipline’s mission to provide fast, dependable access to essential medical and commercial supplies around the globe.

In developing a test asset, you will gain a deep understanding of the system you are working on—whether that includes embedded electronics, avionics, sensing systems, power distribution, mechanical actuation, or full subsystem integrations. Building these test assets often involves designing and constructing mechatronic systems as well as developing complex automation scripts that coordinate sensors, actuators, and instrumentation with operator safety in mind.

You will own your test asset end-to-end: from early concept and system definition, to implementation, data collection, analysis, and ultimately the recommendations that inform engineering decisions. If you are excited by hands-on engineering, solving ambiguous technical problems, and building tools that raise the bar for hardware quality, this role is for you.

• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to define clear component and tester requirements

• Validate the design and assembly of components ranging from circuit boards to large mechanical or electromechanical assemblies

• Streamline testing, data