Senior Battery Engineer (Robotics) - Dot

DoorDash USA • Oakland, CA

1d

About The Position

We are seeking a highly experienced Battery Engineer to own the complete battery system architecture for our robotic platform. This individual will be responsible for battery system design from cell selection through full pack integration, including electrical configuration, mechanical packaging, thermal management, charging strategy, range calculations, and safety/propagation mitigation.
This role is critical to robot performance, reliability, safety, and lifecycle cost. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise in battery pack design with strong cross-functional execution skills.

Requirements

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field
• 7+ years of experience designing lithium-ion battery packs or high-performance battery systems
• Strong expertise in: Battery packaging and mechanical integration Series & parallel configuration optimization Thermal management and cooling systems Charging architectures and battery lifecycle tradeoffs Propagation and safety mitigation strategies
• Experience taking battery systems from concept through production
• Experience with Solidworks and/or Siemens NX CAD systems.
• Familiarity with BMS systems and battery modeling tools
• Hands-on experience with validation testing and failure analysis

Nice To Haves

• Experience in robotics, EVs, drones, or other high dynamic-load applications
• Experience designing batteries for ruggedized or mobile system
• Knowledge of manufacturing scale-up and supplier qualification
• Experience with regulatory certification processes
• Familiarity with simulation tools (thermal, structural, electrochemical modeling)

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end battery system design for the robot platform
• Define system requirements including energy density, power delivery, lifecycle, safety, and environmental constraints
• Lead cell selection and supplier evaluation
• Define and optimize S&P (series and parallel) configuration to meet performance and reliability targets
• Develop battery system specifications and validation plans
• Design robust mechanical packaging solutions for dynamic robotic environments
• Ensure structural integrity under shock, vibration, and drop conditions
• Collaborate closely with mechanical and industrial design teams to integrate the battery within tight robotic packaging constraints
• Optimize serviceability, modularity, and manufacturability
• Design and validate cooling strategies (passive and active)
• Model and simulate thermal behavior under peak load and fast charging conditions
• Ensure safe operation across full environmental temperature ranges
• Drive mitigation strategies for thermal runaway and cell-to-cell propagation
• Define charging architecture and charging profiles (standard and fast charging)
• Collaborate on BMS integration and system-level power management
• Optimize for cycle life, charging time, and operational uptime
• Evaluate tradeoffs between performance, longevity, and safety
• Develop safety architecture including containment, venting, isolation, and propagation resistance
• Conduct failure mode and hazard analyses (FMEA, DFMEA, safety cases)
• Work with compliance teams to ensure regulatory adherence (UL, IEC, UN38.3, etc.)
• Define validation tests for abuse scenarios (overcharge, short circuit, crush, thermal runaway)
• Partner with electrical, firmware, mechanical, robotics, and manufacturing teams
• Support DFM/DFT activities for production readiness
• Drive supplier technical engagement and validation testing
• Own performance tracking in fielded systems and lead continuous improvement

Benefits

• In addition to base salary, the compensation for this role includes opportunities for equity grants.
• DoorDash cares about you and your overall well-being. That’s why we offer a comprehensive benefits package to all regular employees, which includes a 401(k) plan with employer matching, 16 weeks of paid parental leave, wellness benefits, commuter benefits match, paid time off and paid sick leave in compliance with applicable laws (e.g. Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act). DoorDash also offers medical, dental, and vision benefits, 11 paid holidays, disability and basic life insurance, family-forming assistance, and a mental health program, among others.
• For salaried roles: flexible paid time off/vacation, plus 80 hours of paid sick time per year.
• For hourly roles: vacation accrued at about 1 hour for every 25.97 hours worked (e.g. about 6.7 hours/month if working 40 hours/week; about 3.4 hours/month if working 20 hours/week), and paid sick time accrued at 1 hour for every 30 hours worked (e.g. about 5.8 hours/month if working 40 hours/week; about 2.9 hours/month if working 20 hours/week).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior