Community Relations Intern Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

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 Engagement and Events Team

Strategic Engagement and Events helps Zipline build relationships, understanding, and momentum with the people who matter most to our growth. We work across Commercial, Government Affairs, Communications, Market Entry, Operations, Partnerships, and other teams to turn important business priorities into thoughtful stakeholder experiences and engagement strategies. Our work can range from hosting government and civic leaders for technology demonstrations, to supporting a new market launch, coordinating a strategic partner moment, or creating an experience for investors, customers, or community leaders. We focus on the objective first: understanding who we need to reach, what we want them to understand or do, and designing the right engagement to help make that happen. Because our work sits at the intersection of strategy and execution, our team gets a unique view into how Zipline grows and builds trust in new and existing markets.

The Role

As a Strategic Engagements & Events Intern, you'll help turn Zipline's biggest business moments into meaningful experiences for the people who can help move our mission forward. You'll work alongside the Strategic Engagement & Events team from the earliest stages of an opportunity-researching audiences and markets, helping develop engagement recommendations, and building project plans-all the way through execution and follow-up. Depending on the project, you might help prepare for a visit from government leaders, support a market launch, coordinate a partner event, or help bring Zipline's technology to life for an entirely new audience. You'll collaborate with teams across the company and gain firsthand experience in stakeholder engagement, communications, project management, event production, and business strategy. This is a role for someone who is excited to think critically, stay organized, and roll up their sleeves to make ambitious ideas happen.

What You'll Do

• Research markets, stakeholders, and opportunities to help the team understand who we should engage, why an opportunity matters, and how it connects to Zipline's broader business priorities.
• Help develop engagement strategies and briefing materials , including audience research, stakeholder profiles, experience concepts, agendas, talking points, and recommendations for internal teams.
• Support planning and execution of strategic engagements such as VIP visits, technology demonstrations, partner events, market launches, community activations, conferences, and company-owned events.
• Build and maintain project plans and workbacks , helping coordinate timelines, owners, guest lists, logistics, communications, production needs, and other dependencies across teams.
• Partner with teams across Zipline including Government Affairs, Communications, Commercial, Operations, Partnerships, Workplace, Design, and others to gather information and keep projects moving.
• Support onsite execution , helping create thoughtful, well-run experiences for guests and solving problems as they arise.
• Measure and document what worked , capturing outcomes, stakeholder follow-up, lessons learned, and reusable resources that make future engagements more effective.

What You'll Bring

• You are currently pursuing an undergraduate degree or have recently graduated and are excited to build experience in areas such as communications, business, marketing, public affairs, events, hospitality, or a related field. We care more about how you think and work than your specific major. Masters and PhD students are also eligible.
• You are an excellent communicator and can turn research or a collection of inputs into clear, concise written materials.
• You are highly organized and enjoy keeping track of details, deadlines, and moving pieces while maintaining sight of the larger objective.
• You are curious and analytical-you like learning about new audiences, markets, and business problems and asking thoughtful questions before jumping to a solution.
• You are comfortable taking initiative, working through ambiguity, and switching between strategic thinking and hands-on execution.
• You are collaborative and excited to work with people across many different functions, backgrounds, and levels of the organization.
• You are willing to support in-person engagements and events, which may occasionally require travel or work outside standard business hours.

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 $34 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.