Operations Manager, Autonomous Safety

DoorDash USA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 136,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

DoorDash, Inc. is seeking a Manager of Operational Safety to lead the team responsible for safety systems, incident response, and SOP governance for autonomous robot operations.

You will set strategy, build a team of safety specialists, and partner with engineering and product leadership to embed safety into development. This senior leadership role requires influencing senior stakeholders, driving safety analytics, and coordinating across labs, regulators, partners, and customers.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in operations, safety, or a related field—autonomy, robotics strongly preferred.
• 2+ years managing or leading teams, with a track record of developing talent.
• Proven experience designing and scaling safety or operational systems in a regulated or safety‑critical environment.
• Executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and present complex risk data clearly.
• Strong analytical mindset; comfortable with ambiguity and fast‑changing priorities.
• Participate in on‑call rotation and promptly respond to on‑call events with urgency and rigor on nights and weekends.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow the safety team — hire, develop, and manage a team of operations safety specialists across remote and on‑site functions.
• Set SOP strategy — own the design, governance, and continuous improvement of standard operating procedures; drive compliance across all Labs programs.
• Own safety analytics & reporting — establish metrics and KPIs for operational safety; present trends, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Lead incident command — oversee critical incident triage and resolution; ensure root cause analysis and corrective action processes are rigorous and timely.
• Drive cross-functional safety programs — partner with engineering, product, legal, and field operations to build safety into product design, launches, and scale.
• Represent safety externally — engage with regulators, partners, and customers on safety standards and compliance as needed.

Skills

Executive presence

Analytical mindset

On‑call readiness

Stakeholder influence

Ambiguity tolerance

Team leadership

Safety systems design

Robotics/autonomy familiarity

Safety governance

Tools

Google Workspace

Jira

SQL

Job description

As Manager of Operational Safety, you will lead the team responsible for safety systems, incident response, and SOP governance for DoorDash's autonomous robot operations. You will set strategy, build and develop a team of safety specialists, and partner with engineering and product leadership to ensure safety is embedded into every phase of development. This is a senior leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of operational rigor and cutting‑edge autonomy.

What You'll Do

• Lead and grow the safety team — hire, develop, and manage a team of operations safety specialists across remote and on‑site functions
• Set SOP strategy — own the design, governance, and continuous improvement of standard operating procedures; drive compliance across all Labs programs
• Own safety analytics & reporting — establish metrics and KPIs for operational safety; present trends, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership
• Lead incident command — oversee critical incident triage and resolution; ensure root cause analysis and corrective action processes are rigorous and timely
• Drive cross-functional safety programs — partner with engineering, product, legal, and field operations to build safety into product design, launches, and scale
• Represent safety externally — engage with regulators, partners, and customers on safety standards and compliance as needed

What We're Looking For

Required

• 7+ years in operations, safety, or a related field — autonomy, robotics strongly preferred
• 2+ years managing or leading teams, with a track record of developing talent and building high‑performing functions
• Proven experience designing and scaling safety or operational systems in a regulated or safety‑critical environment
• Executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and present complex risk data clearly
• Strong analytical mindset; comfortable with ambiguity and fast‑changing priorities
• Participate in on‑call rotation and promptly respond to on‑call events with urgency and rigor on nights and weekends.

Preferred

• Deep familiarity with safety management systems (SMS), ISO 45001, or equivalent frameworks
• Proven track record in designing, developing, and deploying comprehensive training programs and instructional materials.
• Experience with autonomous systems, robotics deployment, or fleet operations at scale
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, Jira, and SQL

Why This Role

• Build and lead the safety function at one of the most ambitious autonomy teams in tech
• Direct influence over systems that affect millions of real‑world interactions
• High visibility to DoorDash senior leadership and a clear path to Director‑level growth
• Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits

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.

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.

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.

$136,000 - $200,000 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.

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

How it works:Metaview 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 Metaview 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.