Sr. Safety Systems Engineer

DoorDash USA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity grants

401(k) with employer matching

Parental leave

Wellness benefits

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

DoorDash Labs in San Francisco seeks a Senior or Staff System Safety Engineer to lead safety for autonomous delivery platforms and to develop and validate safety cases across system and component levels. The role emphasizes rigorous risk management within a fast-paced iterative environment.

Collaborate with systems, software, mechanical, electrical, and operations teams to perform FHA, FMEA, and FTA analyses, quantify risk, and guide design decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Aerospace, Systems, Electrical, Mechanical, or a related engineering discipline.
• Experience developing safety cases and safety requirements for safety-critical systems such as self-driving or aerospace domains.
• Proficiency in functional decomposition and system requirements definition with MBSE familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own the overarching system safety case for autonomous delivery operations.
• Derive and maintain system-level safety and functional requirements with traceability.
• Collaborate across systems, software, mechanical, electrical, and operations teams to embed safety early.
• Perform FHA, FMEA, and FTA analyses to evaluate hazards and mitigation strategies.
• Quantify risks and communicate safety impacts to leadership and stakeholders.

Skills

Safety case development

Functional decomposition

FHA

FMEA

FTA

Hazard analysis

Risk assessment

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Aerospace/Systems/Electrical/Mechanical engineering

Tools

MBSE tools

Job description

About the Team

DoorDash Labs, established in 2018, serves as the innovation hub for DoorDash, focusing on developing automation and robotics solutions to enhance last-mile logistics. The team's mission is to create technologies that support and augment human networks, aiming to improve efficiency for Dashers, merchants, and consumers alike. We’re ruthlessly focused on business impact. We are a highly senior team composed of former pioneers from a variety of different robotics industries. As of 2025, DoorDash has completed 10B lifetime deliveries. We’re focused on how to do the next 10B even better.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly motivated Senior or Staff System Safety Engineer to join our team. In this role, you will play a critical part in the development and validation of safety-critical systems for our unmanned delivery platforms. You will lead efforts to define, analyze, and document safety across system and component levels, ensuring compliance with standards. The ideal candidate has a strong background in safety case development, functional decomposition, hazard assessment, and FMEA, with a proven ability to manage and communicate risk throughout a fast-paced, iterative development process.

You’re excited about this opportunity because you will…

• Develop and own the overarching system safety case for autonomous delivery operations, aligning it with operational concepts, regulatory expectations, and design intent.
• Derive and maintain system-level safety and functional requirements that support the safety case and ensure traceability through design and verification.
• Collaborate across disciplines (systems, software, mechanical, electrical, and operations) to identify, assess, and design for safety early in the development lifecycle.
• Perform detailed safety analyses such as Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA), Failure Modes and Effects Analyses (FMEA), and Fault Tree Analyses (FTA) to evaluate potential hazards and mitigation strategies.
• Support risk management and leadership alignment by quantifying risks, defining acceptable risk thresholds, and communicating safety impacts clearly and effectively.

We’re excited about you because…

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Aerospace, Systems, Electrical, Mechanical, or a related engineering discipline.
• Experience developing safety cases and safety requirements for self-driving, aerospace, or other safety-critical systems.
• Proficiency in functional decomposition and system requirements definition, with familiarity in model-based or structured systems engineering tools.
• Hands‑on experience conducting Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA) and contributing to FMEA/FTA processes for complex hardware and software systems.
• Ability to align organizational risk tolerance with quantitative risk assessments, translating technical analyses into program‑level decisions.
• Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills, with a collaborative mindset suited to a cross‑functional development environment.
• Must be comfortable regularly exercising discretion and independent judgment in performing job duties, including evaluating options, making informed decisions, and determining appropriate courses of action within the scope of assigned responsibilities.

Notice to Applicants for Jobs Located in NYC or Remote Jobs Associated With Office in NYC Only

We use Covey as part of our hiring and/or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT in NYC. As part of the hiring and/or promotion process, we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound from August 21, 2023, through December 21, 2023, and resumed using Covey Scout for Inbound again on June 29, 2024.

The Covey tool has been reviewed by an independent auditor. Results of the audit may be viewed here: Covey

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.

$159,800—$235,000 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 to Applicants for Jobs Located in NYC or Remote Jobs Associated With Office in NYC Only

We used Covey as part of our hiring and/or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT in NYC. As part of the hiring and/or promotion process, we provided Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound from August 21, 2023, through December 21, 2023. We resumed using Covey Scout for Inbound again on June 29, 2024, and ceased using Covey Scout for Inbound on April 30, 2026.

The Covey tool has been reviewed by an independent auditor. Results of the audit may be viewed here: https://getcovey.com/nyc-local-law-144.