Member of Technical Staff - Applied AI

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

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

401(k) plan

Paid parental leave

Wellness benefits

Job summary

DoorDash, Inc. is seeking an applied AI researcher to lead the direction of AI research and build sophisticated AI agents end-to-end with measurable evaluation methods.

You will design systems to enhance capability and curate data to optimize agent behavior at real-world scale. You will collaborate directly with leadership, move quickly in a flat, hands-on environment, and influence product impact for millions of consumers, merchants, and dashers.

Qualifications

• Experience with the latest AI tools building AI products.
• Familiarity with building agent solutions, including context management, defining evals, measuring performance.
• Shipped a production AI agent or something similar.
• Experience at frontier labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind) or top AI startups.
• A builder mindset - energized by experimentation, move quickly, and stay close to the work.
• Strong cross-functional instincts and a natural ability to bring research and product teams together.

Responsibilities

• Own AI research direction and build agents end-to-end.
• Develop evaluation methods to measure agent performance.
• Design systems and algorithms to enhance capability.
• Collect and curate human and synthetic data to optimize agent behavior.

Skills

AI tooling

Agent solutions

Production AI

Cross-functional

Builder mindset

Job description

DoorDash’s mission is to empower local economies. In the Applied AI srole, you will be at the absolute forefront of agentic technology, building sophisticated AI agents end-to-end to help businesses grow, create deeply personalized customer experiences, and optimize our global logistics system at an unprecedented scale.

We have an applied AI lab at DoorDash, which is a team that is small, highly motivated, and focused on engineering excellence. This team is for builders who want to see their work directly impact millions of consumers, merchants, and dashers every day. We operate with a flat structure - everyone is expected to be hands‑on and contribute directly to the mission. Initiative and consistent delivery are how people grow and lead here.

About the Role

You’ll work directly with our cofounder with direct ownership over the direction of AI research at DoorDash. In this role, you will build sophisticated AI agents end-to-end and develop robust evaluation methods to measure and improve agent performance. You will design systems and algorithms to enhance capability, as well as collect and curate human and synthetic data to optimize the behavior of these agent systems. This is hands‑on work with immediate product impact at real‑world scale.

You’re excited about this opportunity because you will…

• Work directly with leadership and see your research deployed at real‑world scale - small team, massive reach.
• Move fast without bureaucracy - rapid iteration, high autonomy, and no layers of politics.
• Have access to global data scale, robust compute, and a platform primed for AI transformation.
• Shape how AI transforms commerce, building intelligent and adaptive experiences for millions of Consumers, Merchants, and Dashers.

We’re excited about you because you have…

• Experience with the latest AI tools building AI products
• Familiarity with building agent solutions, including context management, defining evals, measuring performance
• Shipped a production AI agent or something similar
• Experience at frontier labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind) or top AI startups.
• A builder mindset - you’re energized by experimentation, move quickly, and stay close to the work
• Strong cross‑functional instincts and a natural ability to bring research and product teams together.

Notice Regarding Use of AI and Automated Tools:To streamline our hiring process, DoorDash utilizes an automated recruitment tool called Gem.

How it works: Gem assists our recruiting team by evaluating job related qualifications and characteristics in connection with hiring. The tool is designed and used to support - rather than replace - human decision-making; trained personnel make final decisions with meaningful human review and oversight, and DoorDash does not use Gem or other AI‑enabled tool in a manner that has the effect of subjecting applicants or employees to discrimination based on any protected characteristic or proxy or for engaging in any protected activity under applicable law.

Data Retention, Privacy & Bias Audit: Data collected during this process is retained in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy and applicable state laws. In compliance with New York City Local Law 144, the independent bias audit summary for Gem is publicly available for review at our Careers Page .

Compensation

The successful candidate’s starting pay will fall within the pay range listed below and is determined based on job‑related factors including, but not limited to, skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. Base salary is localized according to an employee’s work location. Ranges are market‑dependent and may be modified in the future.

In addition to base salary, the compensation for this role includes opportunities for equity grants. Talk to your recruiter for more information.

DoorDash cares about you and your overall well‑being. That’s why we offer a comprehensive benefits package to all regular employees, which includes a 401(k) plan with employer matching, 16 weeks of paid parental leave, wellness benefits, commuter benefits match, paid time off and paid sick leave in compliance with applicable laws (e.g. Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act). DoorDash also offers medical, dental, and vision benefits, 11 paid holidays, disability and basic life insurance, family‑forming assistance, and a mental health program, among others.

To learn more about our benefits, visit our careers page here .

See below for paid time off details:

• For salaried roles: flexible paid time off/vacation, plus 80 hours of paid sick time per year.
• For hourly roles: vacation accrued at about 1 hour for every 25.97 hours worked (e.g. about 6.7 hours/month if working 40 hours/week; about 3.4 hours/month if working 20 hours/week), and paid sick time accrued at 1 hour for every 30 hours worked (e.g. about 5.8 hours/month if working 40 hours/week; about 2.9 hours/month if working 20 hours/week).

The national base pay range for this position within the United States, including Illinois and Colorado.

$203,500 - $299,300 USD

About DoorDash

At DoorDash, our mission to empower local economies shapes how our team members move quickly, learn, and reiterate in order to make impactful decisions that display empathy for our range of users—from Dashers to merchant partners to consumers. We are a technology and logistics company that started by enabling door‑to‑door delivery, and we are looking for team members who can help us go from a company that is known as the place you order food to a company that people turn to for any and all goods.

DoorDash is growing rapidly and changing constantly, which gives our team members the opportunity to share their unique perspectives, solve new challenges, and own their careers. We're committed to supporting employees’ happiness, healthiness, and overall well‑being by providing comprehensive benefits and perks including premium healthcare, wellness expense reimbursement, paid parental leave and more.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

We’re committed to growing and empowering a more inclusive community within our company, industry, and cities. That’s why we hire and cultivate diverse teams of people from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We believe that true innovation happens when everyone has room at the table and the tools, resources, and opportunity to excel.

Statement of Non‑Discrimination: In keeping with our beliefs and goals, no employee or applicant will face discrimination or harassment based on: race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital/domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability status, or veteran status. Above and beyond discrimination and harassment based on “protected categories,” we also strive to prevent other subtler forms of inappropriate behavior (i.e., stereotyping) from ever gaining a foothold in our office. Whether blatant or hidden, barriers to success have no place at DoorDash. We value a diverse workforce – people who identify as women, non‑binary or gender non‑conforming, LGBTQIA+, American Indian or Native Alaskan, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, differently‑abled, caretakers and parents, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Thank you to the Level Playing Field Institute for this statement of non‑discrimination.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and any other state or local hiring regulations, we will consider for employment any qualified applicant, including those with arrest and conviction records, in a manner consistent with the applicable regulation.

If you need any accommodations, please inform your recruiting contact upon initial connection.