Technical Program Manager Intern (Summer 2026)

About Zipline

Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move. Our aim is to solve the world’s most urgent and complex access challenges by building the first instant logistics system that serves all humans equally. Leveraging expertise in robotics and autonomy, Zipline designs, builds, and operates a fleet of cutting edge, autonomous delivery drones. We serve tens of millions of people around the world.

Joining Zipline’s Emerging Talent program as an intern is an opportunity to contribute to our promise of building a system that provides equitable access to critical healthcare supplies for millions of people. We believe that internships are more than just opportunities to learn by watching or doing low level tasks. We expect our interns to take on meaningful work that actively contributes to moving Zipline’s mission forward, while learning real-world skills that will serve them in their careers for the long term.

Join us, and build the future of logistics with the best humans around!

The Role

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.

What You'll Do

• Understand and mitigate technical and program risks to keep Zipline’s testing programs on track. Drive decision making and trade off studies.

• Define programme 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

What You'll Bring

• 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.

• Strong technical background

• 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

• Ability to pick up technical concepts rapidly

• Ability to drive clarity amidst chaos and ambiguity

• Extreme ownership and a bias for action

• Must be eligible to work in the US

• 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

What Else You Should Know

Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco or Dallas office. We will host our Summer 2026 interns from May or June to August.

Candidates are limited to three (3) applications within a 30-day period.

The starting cash range for this internship is $38 - 42/ hour. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. The final cash pay for this role will depend on a variety of factors, including a specific candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, and working location. The total compensation package for each role may also include: a housing stipend; overtime pay; relocation support; paid sick time; and more.

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!

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.