Staff Software Engineer - Sky Traffic Platform

Company: Zipline
Location: South San Francisco
Posted on: April 2, 2026

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 Zipline Zipline is the world’s largest and most experienced autonomous delivery service, founded to serve all humans equally by ensuring access to 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 including blood, vaccines, medical supplies, food, and commercial products. Our customers include healthcare systems, governments, retailers, and global brands who rely on us to save lives, reduce emissions, increase economic opportunity, and provide new logistics services at scale. Our technology goes beyond drones. We deploy integrated logistics infrastructure that strengthens supply chains, reduces congestion, and enables instant delivery, transforming how essential goods reach people everywhere. 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. About You and The Role Zipline is expanding our autonomous drone delivery network around the world, helping people get what they need, no matter where they live. As part of this expansion, Zipline is building technology to safely and efficiently integrate our drones into complex airspace across the globe. This technology is our key enabler to safely interoperate with other commercial drone companies and existing airspace users. We’re looking for world-class software engineers that thrive at launching new products and working through the ‘0 to 1’ phase. This is a unique opportunity to help shape how software and automation will enable a paradigm shift from human-centric management to machine-centric. Note : we do not expect you to have previous aviation experience, rather a passion for building safety-critical scalable products that are making a meaningful impact on the world. What You'll Do Define and build software as part of the team that's driving industry-first airspace management technologies (Unmanned Traffic Management, or UTM) to enable the world’s most active commercial drone network to further scale Build core services that enable equitable airspace access, flight deconfliction, and simulation across airspace users Build systems with a focus on correctness, testability, and auditability Contribute to development efforts across the full stack of our codebase, including end-to-end software development lifecycle, system design, implementation, validation, and rollout Engage in open-source community related to drone airspace management Mentor engineer team members and share best practices to level up a growing team Basic Qualifications: 10 years experience in software engineering designing secure and reliable real-time systems Desire to take on a foundational technical role and contribute to the direction of a new product line Experience designing APIs and sophisticated data models Experience building scalable and reliable distributed systems Experience deploying systems to cloud providers (AWS, Kubernetes) Support and mentor teammates through thoughtful code reviews, architectural guidance, and shared technical decision-making Strong product insights and empathy for the customer Excellent communication skills and a track record of owning problems end-to-end Preferred Qualifications: Experience integrating, and potentially contributing to open-source technologies Domain experience with software-defined physical products Experience in modern front-end technologies and major frameworks Support customer facing engagements and translate feedback into product insights What Else You Need to Know The starting cash range for this role is $210,000 - 250,000. 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, working location, and projected impact. The total compensation package for this role may also include: equity compensation; discretionary annual or performance bonuses; sales incentives; benefits such as medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; and more. Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies. 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! Please Note We have received reports stating that certain individuals are reaching out to people under false pretenses, claiming to be Zipline employees, affiliates, agents, or representatives. They may seek to gain access to your personal information or to acquire money from you by offering fictitious employment opportunities or by claiming that they are contacting you on Zipline’s behalf. Genuine Zipline employees or representatives will never ask you for money or payment in exchange for employment opportunities or other related services. Any such offer of employment or any other service in exchange for fees that claims to be from us is deceitful and part of a fraud. If you believe you have been targeted by a fraudulent party, we ask that you immediately get in touch with us via email at security@flyzipline.com upon receiving a suspicious offer or claim.

Keywords: Zipline, Vacaville , Staff Software Engineer - Sky Traffic Platform, IT / Software / Systems , South San Francisco, California