Strategic Finance Intern (Summer 2027)
Zipline · San Francisco, United States · 25d ago
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 Strategic Finance Team
Zipline’s Strategic Finance team sits at the center of the company’s commercial strategy, partnering closely with Go-to-Market, Marketing, Product, and Engineering to guide critical decisions and build the financial foundation for scale.
The team drives pricing, forecasting, partner deal structuring, user and partner economics, and scenario planning across both core revenue channels and emerging products like Zipline Marketplace.
Blending analytical rigor with cross-functional influence and an entrepreneurial mindset, Strategic Finance uncovers growth opportunities, improves efficiency, and strengthens long-term business value. The team is based at Zipline’s South San Francisco headquarters in an in-person/hybrid environment.
The Role
As a Strategic Finance Intern supporting Operations Finance, you will play a key role in helping Zipline understand and optimize the financial performance of our global operations. You’ll work closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Data teams to build analyses, streamline reporting, and develop insights that directly influence strategic and operational decisions.
This role is ideal for someone who loves solving complex problems, is comfortable with data, and wants hands-on exposure to how a hardware-enabled, technology-driven business operates.
What You'll Do
- Support Operations Finance with metric development, reporting, forecasting, and financial modeling
- Query and analyze large operational datasets using SQL (Snowflake experience a plus)
- Build repeatable dashboards and tools in Excel, Google Sheets, and BI platforms to drive visibility into performance
- Partner with operations leaders to understand drivers of cost, efficiency, and performance across global sites
- Support ad-hoc analyses related to operational efficiency, unit economics, and scaling strategies
- Assist in month-end processes, variance analysis, and KPI reviews
- Contribute to cross-functional initiatives involving Supply Chain, Product, and Data teams
- Help improve internal processes by identifying gaps and implementing simple automation or workflow improvements
What You'll Bring
- A strong analytical mindset with comfort getting into the details and understanding how complex operations function
- Experience with SQL, relational databases, and working with large datasets (Snowflake preferred; experience with dbt or modern data stacks is a plus)
- High proficiency in Excel and Google Sheets; ability to build and manage structured and dynamic financial models
- Strong communication skills—comfortable interacting with cross-functional partners who have diverse backgrounds and perspectives
- Ability to work with imperfect information and drive clarity in a fast-paced environment
- Strong organizational skills and a desire to create processes that bring structure and accountability
- Interest in hardware-focused or technology-enabled businesses; experience in technology, healthcare devices, or operations-heavy industries is a plus
- Knowledge of financial statements, accounting fundamentals, and core financial analysis concepts (e.g., unit economics, scenario analysis, return on capital)
- A “general athlete” mentality—eager to jump into a wide variety of problems and learn quickly
- Prior experience in operational finance, corporate finance, investment banking, consulting, or analytics is a plus, but not required
What Else You Should Know
This internship is a full-time position, in-person at our South San Francisco office. We will host our Summer 2027 interns from May/June to August/September. Zipline is unable to sponsor work visas for applicants to this position.
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.