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Quality & Manufacturing Intern (Summer 2027)

South San Francisco, California, USA

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 Quality and Manufacturing Team

At Zipline, the Quality and Manufacturing team is essential to delivering safe, reliable, and scalable products that power our global operations. The team is made up of two key disciplines: Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (AME) and Manufacturing Quality Engineering (MQE).

Together, they drive excellence across the entire product lifecycle — from early design and prototyping to high-volume production and field performance. AME ensures our manufacturing processes are innovative, efficient, and scalable, while MQE safeguards product integrity and compliance through rigorous quality standards and continuous improvement.

This team plays a mission-critical role in Zipline’s success by ensuring that every product we build can perform flawlessly in the real world — whether it’s delivering life-saving medical supplies or supporting our expanding logistics network. Their work directly enables Zipline’s ability to scale globally, operate with precision, and fulfill our promise of fast, reliable service to the communities we serve.

About the Role

As an AME Intern, you will be focused on maintaining assembly lines & designing equipment for Zipline’s Top Level Assemblies (TLAs) that will be manufactured at Zipline's Final Assembly and End of Line Testing. This involves working with internal & external cross-functional stakeholders on design for manufacturing & assembly, assembly process and equipment design, assembly line commissioning, validation & continuous improvement to ensure Zipline can continue to serve its customers with better operational efficiency.

As an MQE Intern, you will be focused on the quality and reliability of Zipline’s in-house manufacturing. This involves tracking yield performance, performing root cause analysis and corrective action implementation on assembly and functional test failures, and helping to build a world class manufacturing organization by implementing innovative processes to improve performance during manufacturing and in the field

What You'll Do

As an AME Intern, you will:

  • Dfx Discussion: Assist Design for X conversation with internal & external stakeholders for Zipline TLAs and sub-assemblies.
  • Assembly Line Management: Assist planning, budgeting, design, procurement, commissioning & validation of Assembly Lines and associated equipment at Zipline for Product Validation Builds and at Zipline TLA CMs for Mass Production.
  • Capacity Model Management: Conduct time studies for the various assemblies and maintain the Manufacturing Capacity Model 
  • Process Documentation: Develop & maintain Process Documentation (Manufacturing Process Flow, Process FMEA, Work Instructions, Setup Checklists, Training Plans, etc.) throughout the life of a program.
  • Fixture Design & Automation: Design fixtures for assembly & inspection and propose automation strategies as needed for robust manufacturing. 
  • Operator Training: Assist in training operators to run the assembly line and provide technical support for plant operations. 
  • Technical Support: Support root cause analysis & corrective actions activities to troubleshoot production problems as they occur.
  • Performance Tracking: Establish & monitor KPIs of the assembly line performance such as first-pass yield, cost of poor quality, on-time delivery, etc. Generating & reviewing matrices regularly. 
  • Continuous Improvement: Assist in Continuous Improvement (CI) Projects that seek to improve the performance of the line, reducing cost & improving quality. 

As an MQE Intern, you will:

  • Quality Assurance & Control: Assist in monitoring & improving manufacturing processes to ensure product quality meets company standards. 
  • Failure Analysis and Corrective Action: Assist in failure analysis and work with cross functional teams to implement corrective & preventive actions to eliminate the issue. 
  • Process Optimization & validation: Support the continuous improvement activities on the production floor. Assisting validation of the existing & new process to ensure consistently producing quality parts.
  • Root Cause Analysis: Support RCA activities by applying tools like 8D, 5 Why, Fish bone to derive root cause of issues & drive corrective actions.
  • Documentation & Training: Develop and maintain quality documentation like control plans, work instructions, and FMEA to ensure compliance. Assist in training Quality operators to the quality standards and procedure.
  • Data Tracking & Reporting: Monitoring key quality metrics such as first-pass yield, deviation reporting & tracking, performing MRB review & dispositioning the material. 

What You'll Bring

  • Be a student pursuing a(n) graduate/ undergraduate degree in one of the following concentrations: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Statistics, Mathematics.
  • Must have at least completed the second year of your Undergraduate studies. Masters and PhD students are also eligible. 
  • Proficiency in 3D CAD Software (NX preferred) & ability to read Engineering Drawings (with GD&T)
  • Understanding of traditional & non-traditional manufacturing processes (Machining, Injection Molding, Sheet Metal Stamping, 3D Printing, PCBA Manufacturing, Mechanical or Electromechanical Assembly, etc.)
  • Understanding of Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) & Production Part Approval Process (PPAP)
  • Understanding of Problem Solving Frameworks (8D, FTA, Pareto Analysis, etc.) & RCA/ CAPA Techniques used within these frameworks
  • Willingness to work in a super fast-paced environment that is in a constant state of evolution

What Else to Know

Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco or Dallas office. We will host our Summer 2027 interns from May/June - August/September. 

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

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.

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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.

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