Backend Engineer, Autonomous Drone Delivery

DoorDash High Volume; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 131,000 - 285,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Parental leave

Wellness benefits

Commuter benefits

Paid time off

Paid sick leave

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Holidays

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Family-forming assistance

Mental health program

Job summary

DoorDash Labs’ Air team is seeking a software engineer to build backend services for autonomous drone delivery, focusing on intelligent path planning, real-time fleet management, and airspace awareness to power last-mile logistics.

You will deploy state-of-the-art systems in real-world environments, implement simulations to validate algorithms, and enhance distribution backend performance, reliability, and security, with familiarity in aviation regulations a strong plus.

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in CS/Robotics/Aerospace required.
• 6+ years of software engineering experience focusing on backend systems, robotics, or autonomous systems.
• Experience designing and implementing path-planning algorithms.
• Experience with robotics simulations and testing frameworks.
• Proficiency in Kotlin or C++.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems in real-time contexts.
• Experience building REST APIs, and familiarity with networking protocols (TCP/IP, UDP, MQTT).
• Experience with SQL/NoSQL databases and cloud tooling.
• Familiarity with aviation regulations (FAA Part 107) is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement backend services for autonomous drone delivery that integrates with core data, focusing on path planning, fleet management, and airspace awareness.
• Develop and maintain scalable, fault-tolerant systems to manage a fleet of delivery drones.
• Implement simulations and testing frameworks to validate path planning and system performance.
• Improve performance, reliability, scalability, and security of drone backend systems and ensure compliant drone operations.
• Introduce tools and best practices to accelerate drone development and adherence to aviation regulations.

Skills

Backend systems

Robotics experience

Path planning algorithms

Simulations/testing frameworks

Kotlin or C++

Real-time distributed systems

REST APIs

Networking protocols

SQL or NoSQL

Aviation regulations knowledge

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS/Robotics/Aerospace

Tools

ROS

Kubernetes

Docker

Postgres

Kafka

gRPC

Job description

DoorDash Labs’ Air team is seeking a software engineer to build backend services for autonomous drone delivery, focusing on intelligent path planning, real-time fleet management, and airspace awareness to power last-mile logistics.

You will deploy state-of-the-art systems in real-world environments, implement simulations to validate algorithms, and enhance distribution backend performance, reliability, and security, with familiarity in aviation regulations a strong plus.