--- title: 'Commercial Marketplace Strategy and Operations Intern (Spring 2027) at Zipline' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-marketplace-strategy-and-operations-intern-spring-2027-zipline-south-jz4q8sn06f31' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-06' --- # Commercial Marketplace Strategy and Operations Intern (Spring 2027) at Zipline - **Company:** Zipline - **Location:** South San Francisco California, United States - **Posted:** 2026-09-03 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06 - **Apply:** https://www.zipline.com/open-roles/7982302003?gh_jid=7982302003 ## Job 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 Commercial Marketplace Team The Commercial Marketplace team runs the operating system that connects site-level conditions to commercial action. We track marketplace health across each site, cohort, and metro, balancing demand, selection, customer experience, capacity, utilization, and profitability. By partnering with Product, Operations, Marketing, Finance, and Sales, we identify the right levers - such as prioritization, promotions, pricing, and demand shaping - and help turn them into scalable programs. Our work helps Zipline grow healthy marketplaces while protecting service quality and making the best use of scarce operational and commercial resources. What makes the team special is its combination of quantitative analysis, marketplace judgment, and hands-on execution. ## The Role As a Commercial Marketplace Strategy & Operations Intern, you will help answer questions like what is happening at a site, which sites are best suited for a given growth program, and where capacity or customer experience constraints may limit growth. You’ll use data to prepare readouts, surface opportunities, test hypotheses, and support decisions across Commercial, Operations, Marketing, Product, Finance, and Utilization. You will learn how marketplace levers such as selection, partner prioritization, pricing, promotions, and demand shaping work together in a real delivery network. Your analyses will inform decisions that improve marketplace health, help scale what works, and expand reliable access to goods. ## What You'll Do - Evaluate and build the playbook for marketplace levers such as pricing, promotions, partner prioritization, pricing, promotions, budget allocation, demand shaping, and customer-experience protection. - Analyze site and cohort performance to identify where to prioritize sales resources, marketing actions, product rollouts, operational playbooks, or other growth programs. - Build and maintain recurring reports and dashboards, partnering with Analytics as needed to improve visibility into site, cohort, and metro performance. - Support daily and weekly site-level performance readouts across marketplace health, growth, efficiency, utilization, fulfillment, customer outcomes, and profitability. - Monitor aircraft availability, fulfillment throughput, throttling, and operational constraints; surface risks that could affect growth plans or customer experience. - Partner with Commercial, Operations, Marketing, Product, Finance, and Utilization to turn insights into action, measure results, and scale what works. ## What You'll Bring - Currently enrolled in a master’s degree program. - Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience using spreadsheets or similar tools to organize, analyze, and communicate data. - Ability to investigate performance at different levels of detail - from a single site to a cohort or metro - and turn findings into a clear recommendation. - Clear, concise written and verbal communication skills, including comfort presenting findings to cross-functional partners. - A collaborative, self-directed working style and curiosity about marketplaces, logistics, and how technology can improve access to goods. - Able to work full-time onsite in South San Francisco for the duration of the Spring 2027 internship. What Else You Should Know This internship is a full-time position, in-person at our South San Francisco office. We will host our Spring 2027 interns from January to April. Zipline is unable to sponsor work visas for applicants to this position. The hourly rate for this internship is $40 per hour. Additional benefits may include relocation support, a housing stipend, overtime pay, paid sick time, and other benefits, where applicable and subject to local requirements. 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. Voluntary Self-Identification 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. ## About Zipline ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Zipline is an American robotics company that operates the world’s largest autonomous drone delivery service, transporting medical supplies, food, and retail goods across multiple continents. - **Entity Type**: Private (early-stage startup) - **Headquarters**: South San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: March 2014 - **Founders**: Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oksenhorn, William Hetzler ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Logistics / Drone delivery - **Target customers**: B2B (healthcare systems, governments, retailers like Walmart and Chipotle) and B2C (home delivery via the Zipline app) - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Build the first logistics system that serves all people equally” – initially focused on saving lives by delivering blood and medicine to remote communities, now expanded to instant urban delivery. ## Products & Services - **Platform 1 (P1)**: Long-range, rural delivery drone. Carries up to 4 lbs, roundtrip range 120+ miles, cruise speed 60 mph. Uses parachute delivery. Designed for enterprise, government, and healthcare supply chains. - **Platform 2 (P2)**: Urban/suburban home delivery drone. Carries up to 8 lbs, service radius 10 miles (or 24 miles one way), cruise speed 70 mph. Delivers via a tether from up to 300 ft, allowing contactless drop-off. Launched in 2025 and used for food, retail, and health products. - **Zipping Points**: Modular ground stations that allow businesses to load orders onto drones without specialized equipment. - **FlightIQ**: Advanced onboard autonomy and perception suite for safe navigation and delivery. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available - **Key Metric**: 2 million commercial deliveries completed (as of January 2026) and 130 million autonomous miles flown.[wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipline_(drone_delivery_company))[zipline-fact-sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in available sources. Key partners include Walmart, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Crumbl, Blaze Pizza, Wendy’s, and many other restaurant brands. In healthcare, works with more than 5,000 hospitals and health centers. - **Growth Signals**: Expanded into urban home delivery in 2025 (P2) with service in Pea Ridge, Arkansas and 20+ communities in Dallas-Fort Worth. Obtained FAA authorization for beyond visual line of sight operations. Reports 56% decrease in maternal mortality and 66% decrease in missed malaria treatments in served regions.[zipline-fact-sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet) ## Competitive Advantages - **Autonomous drone fleet**: One of the world’s largest commercial deployments of autonomous robots, with custom software running on Nvidia chips. - **FAA approval**: All operations and aircraft are FAA-approved, including pioneering use of Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM). - **Quieter than road vehicles**: Drones hover high and descend on a tether, generating noise lower than common neighborhood sounds. - **Extensive testing**: One of the largest aviation testing campaigns, with operations in rain, wind, and storms. - **Integrated logistics platform**: Beyond drones, Zipline provides warehousing, inventory management, cold chain storage, and fulfillment software. ## Strategic Focus - Scaling the Platform 2 urban delivery network across the U.S., particularly through partnerships with major retailers and restaurants. - Deepening healthcare impact by expanding into new countries and product categories (prescriptions, groceries, convenience items). - Continuing to reduce delivery times and environmental footprint (0 emissions per delivery, compared to automotive delivery). ## Why Work Here - **Culture values**: Ownership & Accountability, Direct Feedback & Communication, Continuous Improvement, Customer Obsession, Servant Leadership (as stated on careers page). Emphasis on “Make it matter” and mission-driven work.[careers](https://www.zipline.com/careers) - **Work environment**: Headquartered in South San Francisco with hardware and software teams. The company assembles its drones in America. Likely on-site given the hardware focus; remote/hybrid policy not explicitly stated. - **Impact**: Opportunity to work on life-saving technology (60,000+ lives saved) and shape the future of instant logistics. - **Engineering culture**: Build and iterate on autonomous systems, airspace deconfliction, and large-scale robotics deployments. ## Sources 1. [Zipline Careers](https://www.zipline.com/careers) 2. [Zipline Homepage](https://www.zipline.com/) 3. [About Zipline](https://www.zipline.com/about) 4. [Zipline Fact Sheet](https://www.zipline.com/about/zipline-fact-sheet) 5. [Wikipedia - Zipline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipline_(drone_delivery_company)) 6. [Greenhouse Careers Page](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/flyzipline) ## Other roles at Zipline - [Senior/Staff Systems Modeling Engineer, Electric Propulsion](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-systems-modeling-engineer-electric-propulsion-zipline-south-san-xvtyrwb7gcss) — South San Francisco California, United States - [Aircraft Software Integration Intern (Summer 2027)](https://feeny.ai/job/aircraft-software-integration-intern-summer-2027-zipline-south-san-francisco-qzhqteyn3z8h) — South San Francisco California, United States - [Aircraft Software Integration Intern (Spring 2027)](https://feeny.ai/job/aircraft-software-integration-intern-spring-2027-zipline-south-san-francisco-869y0r4pmkrj) — South San Francisco California, United States - [People Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/people-partner-zipline-kigali-xhgqah3xea2d) — Kigali, Rwanda - [Concept and Architecture Engineering Contractor](https://feeny.ai/job/concept-and-architecture-engineering-contractor-zipline-south-san-francisco-ttns1vrthcc8) — South San Francisco California, United States - [Mechanical Design Engineer - Towers](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-design-engineer-towers-zipline-south-san-francisco-california-tcdm0q3t7ex4) — South San Francisco California, United States - [Director of Industry Standards](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-industry-standards-zipline-south-san-francisco-california-xfmf6syhmfnh) — South San Francisco California, United States - [Flight Test Site Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-test-site-lead-zipline-amarillo-texas-yjcn58g0gb1v) — Amarillo Texas, United States - [Flight Test Operator](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-test-operator-zipline-amarillo-texas-j156mq0pv54x) — Amarillo Texas, United States - [Launch & Scale Intern (Summer 2027)](https://feeny.ai/job/launch-scale-intern-summer-2027-zipline-south-san-francisco-california-kmcdb5709dg3) — South San Francisco California, United States