Civil and Structural Engineer Intern; Summer

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.

The Ground Systems Deployment and Construction team is responsible for turning bare ground into functional drone charging sites! We’re a broad, cross-functional team with skills across civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, and construction engineering with a mandate to deliver world-class construction execution with zero issues in the first 30 days, on-time and on-budget, using scalable, cost-optimized, and serviceable designs.

As a Civil/Structural Engineer Intern on the Ground Systems Deployment team, you will support the rollout of Zipline's site infrastructure across multiple metros and help shape how UAS infrastructure integrates with the built environment—not just for Zipline, but for our customers and the industry as a whole.

You will contribute to developing standards for charging sites and support the structural engineering of ground systems hardware and site infrastructure needed to secure permits and approvals for new Zipline sites.

You will work closely with cross-functional teams, including Real Estate & Development, Systems Engineering, and Tower Engineering, to ensure that site layouts and infrastructure meet Zipline's engineering requirements as well as applicable municipal codes and permitting standards.

This position is based at our headquarters in South San Francisco.

• Support the civil and structural design of new Zipline sites, including charging infrastructure, foundations, equipment pads, and other ground-system elements.
• Perform structural calculations and help develop drawings and design documentation that support permitting, construction, and site deployment.
• Help create and improve reusable design standards for charging sites and ground-system hardware, then adapt those standards to real-world site constraints.
• Support permitting and regulatory reviews by helping address comments and coordinate with municipalities, inspectors, consultants, and other external partners.
• Collaborate with teams across Real Estate & Development, Systems Engineering, Tower Engineering, construction, and deployment to understand how engineering decisions affect site layout, constructability, and operations.
• Evaluate site-specific engineering challenges and develop practical solutions that improve safety, constructability, cost, and speed of deployment.
• Gain hands‑on experience taking infrastructure from early site concepts through permitting and construction, while learning how civil and structural engineering is applied to a rapidly scaling UAS network.

• You must…