Flight Test Engineer — Next-Gen Electric Aircraft

DoorDash USA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 159,800 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with employer matching

Paid parental leave

Wellness benefits

Commuter benefits match

Paid time off & paid sick leave

Job summary

DoorDash Labs in San Francisco is seeking a Flight Test Engineer to plan, execute, and analyze flight tests for next-gen delivery aircraft. You will bridge engineering and flight operations, owning test objectives, instrumentation, safety, and data quality across rapid test campaigns.

The role combines strong flight-test fundamentals with software skills and a safety-first mindset, with opportunities to develop automation and contribute to cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or a related engineering discipline.
• Strong foundation in flight test engineering, including test planning, instrumentation, flight test data reduction, and safe test execution.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL for data analysis, tooling, and automation, with experience building reusable libraries or analysis frameworks.
• Comfortable with Git-based version control and collaborative software development workflows.
• Familiarity with C++ codebases - primarily reading and reviewing embedded or autonomy code - is a plus.
• Experience with electric aircraft systems, including battery modeling, motor performance characterization, or electric propulsion integration, is highly valued.
• Ability to support adjacent disciplines such as aerodynamics, GNC, or wind tunnel testing, contributing to a collaborative, cross-functional engineering environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to distill complex test data into actionable engineering insights.

Responsibilities

• Plan, scope, and execute flight tests to evaluate vehicle performance, control behavior, and system reliability, ensuring results align with engineering and operational goals.
• Act as the primary interface between engineering and flight test operations, translating technical requirements into test objectives and ensuring effective feedback loops from the field.
• Analyze flight test data to assess vehicle dynamics, control performance, and subsystem interactions, providing actionable insights and recommendations to design and systems teams.
• Develop and maintain Python- and SQL-based analysis tools for flight data visualization, trend detection, and performance assessment, supporting rapid iteration across test campaigns.
• Use SIL and HIL environments to validate software updates, control algorithms, and sensor integrations to derisk flight test.
• Identify and quantify failures, performance deviations, and reliability trends from test data to drive root cause analysis and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the creation of test plans, procedures, and reports, maintaining traceability to system-level and performance requirements.

Skills

Flight test planning

Data analysis

Python

SQL

Git

C++ familiarity

Electric aircraft systems

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering

Tools

Embedded/autonomy code reading

Job description

DoorDash Labs in San Francisco is seeking a Flight Test Engineer to plan, execute, and analyze flight tests for next-gen delivery aircraft. You will bridge engineering and flight operations, owning test objectives, instrumentation, safety, and data quality across rapid test campaigns.

The role combines strong flight-test fundamentals with software skills and a safety-first mindset, with opportunities to develop automation and contribute to cross-functional teams.