DoorDash USA
Software Engineer, Planning & Controls - Autonomy & Robotics, DoorDash Air
About this role
DoorDash Labs is seeking a Planning & Controls Engineer to develop flight control, motion planning, and mission planning algorithms for autonomous drone delivery systems. You'll design and implement controllers in C++ on embedded platforms, conduct flight testing, and own the full control stack from dynamics simulation through hardware validation.
What you'll do
- Develop and tune low-level flight control algorithms for multirotor and hybrid VTOL aircraft
- Design dynamics simulation and aerodynamics modeling for drone platforms
- Develop fault-tolerant control systems for motor loss and emergency behaviors
- Build trajectory motion planners with obstacle avoidance capabilities
- Bring up and calibrate flight controllers on new drone hardware
- Collaborate on high-level mission planning with fallback route management
What they're looking for
- C++ and embedded systems programming
- Control theory (linear/nonlinear systems, stability, controller synthesis)
- Motion planning algorithms (trajectory optimization, A*/D*/RRT)
- Dynamics modeling and aerodynamics simulation
- Flight controller development and tuning
- Linear algebra and optimization
- State estimation integration
- Brushless DC motor control
Benefits
- 401(k) plan with employer matching
- 16 weeks paid parental leave
- Flexible PTO plus 80 hours paid sick time annually
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Equity grant opportunities
- Commuter benefits and wellness programs
Opens the application — the Jobs AI extension fills it for you. Set up autofill
Opens the official application on the employer’s site. No login required.
DoorDash USA
DoorDash USA is building autonomous delivery systems including drones and robots, along with internal infrastructure platforms to support large-scale operations. The company is hiring robotics engineers, autonomous systems specialists, infrastructure engineers, and platform software engineers to develop flight control systems, mapping and localization capabilities, and distributed computing platforms.
View all jobs at DoorDash USALikely interview questions
- Walk us through a flight control system you've designed end-to-end—what were the key control challenges and how did you address stability?
- How would you approach designing a fault-tolerant controller for a multirotor that loses one motor mid-flight?