Senior Operations Specialist, Engineering Testing

DoorDash USA; Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 38,572 - 56,481; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with employer matching

Parental leave

Wellness benefits

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

Paid time off

Paid sick leave

11 paid holidays

Job summary

DoorDash USA in Oakland, CA is seeking a Senior Operations Specialist, Engineering Testing to lead live testing, deployment, and validation of autonomous technologies. You will bridge engineering and operations to ensure safe, thorough evaluation and actionable feedback.

You will mentor junior engineers, develop testing processes, analyze logs, and report insights to partners. Strong troubleshooting and cross-functional collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of autonomous vehicle, robotics, or complex systems testing in live environments.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex system behaviors and make informed decisions.
• Experience partnering with engineering teams to investigate issues and drive improvements.
• Strong written and verbal communication to document findings clearly.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee live testing across transport, deployment, and safety validation.
• Collaborate with hardware, software, and operations teams to validate new capabilities.
• Conduct and document complex tests, identify issues, and provide actionable feedback.
• Exercise technical judgment to assess risk and determine escalation needs.
• Develop and implement testing processes, protocols, and checklists for safety and reliability.
• Analyze logs, document findings, mentor juniors, and track issues through resolution.
• Produce detailed analyses and reports with trends and strategic recommendations.

Skills

Autonomous testing

Robotics

Technical judgment

Mentorship

Cross-functional

Communication

Tools

Linux

GitHub

Jira

Jenkins

Job description

Senior Operations Specialist, Engineering Testing

Oakland, CA

About the Team

DoorDash Labs is an independent team within DoorDash. We explore robotics and automation to transform last-mile logistics in the long term. If you have a passion for applying robotics solutions in a service used by millions of people, then we want to talk to you!

About the Role

We\'re looking for an experienced technical operator to lead live testing, deployment, and operational validation of cutting-edge autonomous technologies. This role sits at the intersection of engineering and operations, helping ensure new capabilities are safely deployed, thoroughly evaluated, and translated into actionable engineering feedback.

You\u2019re excited about this opportunity because you will1

• Lead and oversee live testing across transport, deployment, and safety validation.
• Partner closely with hardware, software, and business operations teams to validate new product capabilities while providing guidance and mentorship to junior team members.
• Conduct and document complex tests for autonomous technologies, evaluating robot behavior, identifying issues, and validating new features and requirements. Provide actionable technical feedback to engineering teams based on test outcomes.
• Exercise technical judgment during live testing by evaluating robot behavior, assessing operational risk, distinguishing expected behavior from product defects, and determining when engineering escalation or additional validation is required.
• Develop and implement testing processes, protocols, and checklists that improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of new products.
• Utilize internal tools to analyze logs, investigate issues, document findings, and track issues through resolution. Mentor junior team members in structured debugging and documentation practices.
• Conduct detailed analyses and generate comprehensive reports that identify trends, summarize findings, and provide strategic recommendations to engineering and operations partners.

We\u2019re excited about you because

• 2+ years of experience, or a demonstrated strong background, in autonomous vehicle, robotics, or complex systems testing within a live operational environment.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound technical judgment, troubleshoot complex system behaviors, and make informed decisions in dynamic, real-world scenarios.
• Experience partnering closely with engineering teams to investigate issues, communicate technical findings, and influence product improvements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly document findings and present technical recommendations to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience using tools such as Linux, GitHub, Jira, Jenkins, or similar platforms to investigate issues, analyze system behavior, and track work through resolution.
• Demonstrated ownership, leadership, and the ability to mentor junior team members while driving operational excellence.
• Comfort working in ambiguous environments where processes are evolving and continuous improvement is expected.

Compensation

Actual compensation within the pay range listed below will be decided based on factors including, but not limited to, skills, prior relevant experience, and specific work location. Base salary is localized according to employee work location.

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.

$28.40 - $41.80 USD