Principal Aerial Autonomy Simulation Engineer

DoorDash USA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 199,000 - 292,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with employer matching

Paid parental leave (16 weeks)

Wellness benefits

Commuter benefits match

Paid time off

Paid sick leave

Medical, dental and vision benefits

11 paid holidays

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Family-forming assistance

Mental health program

Job summary

DoorDash is seeking a Staff Simulation Engineer in San Francisco to build an end-to-end aerial autonomy simulation stack. You will own architecture decisions, implement core components, and mentor a small team while staying hands-on.

You will lead high-fidelity flight dynamics, sensor simulation, and SITL integration, designing scalable CI/CD testing, cloud deployment, and pilot training capabilities with strong system-level thinking.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in robotics or physics-based simulation.
• Deep expertise in simulator internals, including numerical integration and dynamics.
• Experience integrating simulation environments with robotics autonomy stacks.
• Proven experience architecting complex technical systems from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement an end-to-end simulation stack for aerial autonomy.
• Develop high-fidelity simulation capabilities including flight dynamics, sensor and perception, SITL integration.
• Design scalable simulation infrastructure for CI/CD, validation, and scenario generation.
• Build cloud-deployed simulation systems for large-scale testing and pilot training.
• Mentor a small team of simulation engineers while remaining hands-on.

Skills

Robotics simulation

Simulation architecture

C++ programming

Python

System design

Leadership

Education

MS/PhD in CS/EE/Mech/Robotics

Tools

MuJoCo

Gazebo

Isaac

Genesis

Job description

DoorDash is seeking a Staff Simulation Engineer in San Francisco to build an end-to-end aerial autonomy simulation stack. You will own architecture decisions, implement core components, and mentor a small team while staying hands-on.

You will lead high-fidelity flight dynamics, sensor simulation, and SITL integration, designing scalable CI/CD testing, cloud deployment, and pilot training capabilities with strong system-level thinking.