Senior IT Engineer at Zipline in South San Francisco, CA

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.

Overview

We’re looking for a hands-on Senior IT Engineer to run day-to-day IT operations and deliver a seamless employee technology experience across a globally distributed workforce.

This role is responsible for leading the helpdesk, managing onboarding and offboarding, owning device lifecycle and logistics, and continuously improving how IT operates at scale. You’ll bring a strong technical foundation and a bias toward action, with the ability to jump into issues directly while also building the systems, processes, and automation needed to reduce friction over time.

The ideal candidate demonstrates strong ownership by proactively identifying and solving problems while holding themselves accountable for outcomes. They are customer-obsessed and operationally minded, continuously improving processes, eliminating inefficiencies, and building scalable systems that enhance the overall employee experience.

What You’ll Be Doing

Run Day-to-Day IT Operations

• Own and operate the IT helpdesk, ensuring fast, high-quality resolution of employee issues
• Troubleshoot hardware, software, and access issues across a distributed workforce
• Manage and improve support SLAs, KPIs, and service quality metrics
• Serve as an escalation point for complex or high-impact issues
• Manage and support A/V hardware inside conference rooms, all-hands spaces, and in common areas

Own Employee IT Experience (Onboarding → Offboarding)

• Manage all onboarding and offboarding across systems and devices
• Ensure employees have the right access, tools, and equipment from day one
• Partner with HR and Security to maintain clean, auditable processes

Device & Asset Lifecycle Management

• Own procurement, inventory, deployment, and lifecycle management of laptops, accessories, and IT equipment
• Manage logistics for a distributed and hardware-intensive environment (shipping, replacements, repairs)
• Maintain accurate asset tracking and enforce company policies

Core Systems & Infrastructure

• Administer and optimize core IT systems (e.g., SSO, identity, device management, collaboration tools)
• Ensure systems are reliable, secure, and scalable as the company grows
• Continuously improve system integrations and access management by leveraging AI tooling

Automation & Internal Tooling

• Identify and eliminate repetitive work through automation and workflow improvements
• Build scripts, integrations, and lightweight tools to increase leverage across IT operations
• Leverage AI to:
  • Accelerate troubleshooting and root cause analysis
  • Generate scripts, automations, and integrations
  • Improve helpdesk responses and documentation

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with teams across the business to support operational needs
• Translate technical issues into clear, actionable communication for non-technical stakeholders

Qualifications

If you don’t meet every requirement but are excited about the role, we encourage you to apply.

• 6+ years of hands-on experience in IT operations, support, or systems administration

• Experience running or significantly contributing to a helpdesk or IT support function

• Strong technical experience with:

  • Identity & Access Management (SSO, SAML, SCIM)
  • MacOS, Windows and Linux operating systems
  • Endpoint management and access controls

• Experience using AI-powered tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Codex, Claude Code) to improve IT operations

• Experience managing onboarding/offboarding at scale

• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues across hardware and software

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal

• Comfortable working onsite in SF HQ 5+ days/week, with flexibility as needed

• Experience in a high-growth or operationally complex environment

• Experience supporting a globally distributed workforce

• Familiarity with compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR)

• Experience with A/V systems and conference room support

What Else You Need to Know

The starting cash range for this role is Salary range: $142,000 - $214,000. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role. We are always open to negotiation. 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!