Founding AI Research Lead

DoorDash; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 204,000 - 299,000; Full time

Job summary

DoorDash is building an AI Research org from the ground up and is hiring founding researchers who will define the team, shape the research agenda, and influence culture, infrastructure choices, and cross-functional collaboration at scale.

You'll lead end-to-end research projects, partner with ML platform, product, and operations teams, and have access to proprietary data and large compute budgets to push frontier-scale experimentation and publish in top venues.

Qualifications

• First-author publications at top ML venues, or equivalent demonstrated output (widely-used systems, influential open-source work, or research artifacts adopted at scale).
• Experience leading ambitious research projects end-to-end—from problem framing to results others build on.
• Taste: ability to identify valuable problems and know when to pivot or stop an approach.
• Builder's instinct: comfortable working close to real systems and real data, not just benchmarks.
• Excitement about founding-team aspects: hiring, agenda-setting, culture-building, partnering across functions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; track record of mentoring or developing other researchers.
• PhD typical but not required; demonstrated output weighed more than credentials.

Responsibilities

• Set the research agenda for one or more areas of DoorDash AI Research in collaboration with the founding team and leadership.
• Lead high-impact research projects end-to-end—from problem framing to publication and, where appropriate, production deployment.
• Help build the team by interviewing, recruiting, and mentoring researchers, engineers, and fellows.
• Shape the org's culture and operating model—publication practices, collaboration with product teams, and balance of open vs. proprietary work.
• Partner across DoorDash with ML platform, product, and operations teams to translate findings into real-world impact.

Skills

Research leadership

Publication track record

End-to-end project leadership

Communication

Mentoring

Education

PhD in a relevant field

Job description

DoorDash is building an AI Research org from the ground up and is hiring founding researchers who will define the team, shape the research agenda, and influence culture, infrastructure choices, and cross-functional collaboration at scale.

You'll lead end-to-end research projects, partner with ML platform, product, and operations teams, and have access to proprietary data and large compute budgets to push frontier-scale experimentation and publish in top venues.