UTM Engineer - DoorDash Air

DoorDash USA•San Francisco, CA

7d•$163,200 - $240,000

About The Position

DoorDash Air is developing drone delivery systems, including high-reliability, high-power-density converters and fault-tolerant control electronics. DoorDash Labs, the company’s innovation hub for automation and robotics, develops technologies to improve last-mile logistics and support human networks. DoorDash is hiring a Senior UTM Engineer to build core components of its internal route-planning and airspace-deconfliction stack. These systems determine safe aircraft routes, coordinate with other operators and airspace authorities, and connect internal stakeholders and external systems. The role involves developing interoperable, uptime-critical services and algorithms for a real-world aerial delivery network, with an emphasis on systems whose reliability and safety have significant consequences. The engineer will work closely with systems engineering, commercial operations, and flight operations to develop and deploy features that function in real-world flight. The role also includes engaging with external companies, industry working groups, and standards bodies to support interoperable deployments.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field; the posting also accepts a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, Robotics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
At least 5 years of experience across the design, development, deployment, and operation lifecycle of distributed systems in aviation, finance, communications, healthcare, or another field where interoperability and uptime are core priorities; safety criticality is ideally also a driver.
Experience building and shipping production services that interoperate with systems outside one's control, including passing external or open-source conformance or certification testing.
Hands-on experience with path planning, routing, or deconfliction in dynamic real-world environments, or algorithmic fundamentals that support learning this work quickly, such as graph search, optimization, or motion planning.
Ability to build evaluation and analysis tooling that gives teams visibility into system performance and efficiency.
Ability to design integrations across organizational boundaries and communicate technical system state to commercial, operational, and non-engineering stakeholders.
Strong communication skills and comfort representing work and the company externally, such as in standards working groups, industry forums, or collaboration with other companies.
Strong software engineering fundamentals and experience with languages and paradigms used in safety- and uptime-critical distributed systems, such as C++, Python, Go, or similar, plus familiarity with real-time or fault-tolerant system design.

Nice To Haves

Experience with airspace management, air traffic control, or UAS traffic management concepts and systems.
Experience contributing to or engaging with technical standards bodies or open-source interoperability efforts.
Familiarity with certification-aware development processes, such as DO-178 or ARP4761, used in safety-critical aerospace software.
Experience with real-time or embedded systems, or systems designed to degrade gracefully under partial failure.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and deploy interoperable services that pass rigorous conformance and integration testing with external systems and partners.
Develop path-planning and airspace-deconfliction algorithms for safe, efficient routes in dynamic environments.
Build tools to evaluate and optimize airspace efficiency and utilization.
Integrate the deconfliction stack with DoorDash systems and translate mission and airspace status into actionable information for internal stakeholders.
Collaborate with systems engineering, commercial operations, and flight operations to deliver features that work in real-world flight.
Represent DoorDash Air in peer-company engagements, working groups, and standards bodies to improve interoperable deployments and help shape industry practices.