Sr. Safety Systems Engineer

DoorDash USA•Oakland, CA

9h•$159,800 - $235,000

About The Position

We are seeking a highly motivated Senior or Staff System Safety Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will play a critical part in the development and validation of safety-critical systems for our unmanned delivery platforms. You will lead efforts to define, analyze, and document safety across system and component levels, ensuring compliance with standards. The ideal candidate has a strong background in safety case development, functional decomposition, hazard assessment, and FMEA, with a proven ability to manage and communicate risk throughout a fast-paced, iterative development process.

Requirements

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Aerospace, Systems, Electrical, Mechanical, or a related engineering discipline.
Experience developing safety cases and safety requirements for self-driving, aerospace, or other safety-critical systems.
Proficiency in functional decomposition and system requirements definition, with familiarity in model-based or structured systems engineering tools.
Hands-on experience conducting Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA) and contributing to FMEA/FTA processes for complex hardware and software systems.
Ability to align organizational risk tolerance with quantitative risk assessments, translating technical analyses into program-level decisions.
Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills, with a collaborative mindset suited to a cross-functional development environment.
Must be comfortable regularly exercising discretion and independent judgment in performing job duties, including evaluating options, making informed decisions, and determining appropriate courses of action within the scope of assigned responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Develop and own the overarching system safety case for autonomous delivery operations, aligning it with operational concepts, regulatory expectations, and design intent.
Derive and maintain system-level safety and functional requirements that support the safety case and ensure traceability through design and verification.
Collaborate across disciplines (systems, software, mechanical, electrical, and operations) to identify, assess, and design for safety early in the development lifecycle.
Perform detailed safety analyses such as Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA), Failure Modes and Effects Analyses (FMEA), and Fault Tree Analyses (FTA) to evaluate potential hazards and mitigation strategies.
Support risk management and leadership alignment by quantifying risks, defining acceptable risk thresholds, and communicating safety impacts clearly and effectively.