---
title: 'Real Estate Intern (Spring 2027) at Zipline'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/real-estate-intern-spring-2027-zipline-south-san-francisco-california-yvwmdmnz5rdd'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-13'
---

# Real Estate Intern (Spring 2027) at Zipline 

- **Company:** Zipline 
- **Location:** South San Francisco California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-09-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13
- **Apply:** https://www.zipline.com/open-roles/7988625003?gh_jid=7988625003

## 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 Real Estate & Development Team

The Real Estate & Development team identifies, secures, and entitles the sites that power Zipline’s network. We source markets, lead site selection and due diligence (zoning, utilities, environmental), negotiate LOIs/leases and land agreements, and drive entitlements and permitting with municipalities and partner real estate teams. We align stakeholders, manage budgets and schedules, and deliver permitted, ready-to-build locations—spanning test sites and regional hubs—before handing off to construction. By turning candidate properties into drone delivery sites at speed, we enable Zipline to scale into new regions and deliver life-changing logistics where they’re needed most.

## The Role

As a Real Estate & Development Intern based in our San Francisco office, you will help expand the physical infrastructure that makes Zipline’s delivery system possible. You will support projects from early site identification through approvals and development, helping turn promising locations into operational sites that serve customers and communities. Along the way, you will tackle complex, real-world challenges at the intersection of aviation, real estate, technology, and the built environment. You will work alongside and learn from experienced partners across Real Estate, Engineering, Operations, Government Affairs, and Communications. Your work will contribute directly to Zipline’s mission by helping bring fast, reliable delivery to more people in more places.

## What You'll Do

- Support market screening and site selection by evaluating zoning, land-use requirements, setbacks, utilities, easements, environmental conditions, and airspace considerations.
- Assess potential sites for feasibility and risk, identifying permitting hurdles, title issues, infrastructure constraints, and other factors that could affect development.
- Partner with Engineering and Operations to translate technical requirements into practical site criteria, scopes of work, site plans, and permit-ready materials.
- Learn how projects move through local approval processes by working with city planners, zoning officials, building departments, and external consultants.
- Coordinate with landlords, brokers, and real estate partners to evaluate site readiness and support negotiations, including letters of intent, leases, and required exhibits.
- Prepare comparative site analyses, deal memos, and recommendation summaries that help cross-functional teams make informed investment and development decisions.
- Build project-management skills by maintaining timelines, budget estimates, and entitlement trackers, communicating progress to stakeholders, and preparing complete handoff packages for downstream teams.

## What You'll Bring

- Currently pursuing a bachelor’s or graduate degree in real estate, urban planning, engineering, construction management, architecture, geography, environmental studies, business, public policy, or a related field.
- Demonstrated interest in real estate development, site acquisition, infrastructure, permitting, or the built environment through coursework, projects, internships, or other relevant experience.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to evaluate information from multiple sources, identify potential risks, and form a clear recommendation.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the judgment to work professionally with cross-functional teammates, consultants, property owners, and public-agency stakeholders.
- Strong organization and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple assignments, maintain accurate project information, and follow through on deadlines.
- Comfort learning new tools and working with maps, spreadsheets, plans, schedules, and project documentation; prior experience with specialized real estate, design, or construction software is not required.

What Else You Should Know

Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco office. We will host our Spring 2027 interns from January to April/May.

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.

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. 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)

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