Staff Software Engineer, Planner

OpenKrill; United States; Remote; USD 199,000 - 292,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) plan with employer matching

16 weeks of paid parental leave

Wellness benefits

Commuter benefits match

Paid time off and paid sick leave

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

11 paid holidays

Job summary

DoorDash is seeking a seasoned Senior Planner Engineer to ship production-level autonomy systems with deep expertise in motion planning and trajectory optimization for dynamic environments. You will design and deploy planning algorithms that generate safe, reliable motion plans amid uncertain agent behaviors and real-time constraints.

Ideal candidates will have full lifecycle experience of autonomous products, solving robustness, reliability, and performance challenges, and will serve as a key

Qualifications

• BS/MS/PhD in CS, EE, Robotics, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong C++ software engineering experience for production-quality systems.
• Experience developing or deploying motion planning, trajectory optimization, robotics, or real-time decision-making systems.
• Data-driven evaluation, simulation, and performance metrics knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Design and ship real-time behavior and motion planning features for complex urban/suburban driving scenarios.
• Lead automation of root-cause analysis and reduce planner-related disengagements and failures.
• Build scalable evaluation, simulation, and validation frameworks for safe rollout to new regions.
• Collaborate with perception, prediction, controls, and platform teams for end-to-end autonomy improvements.
• Contribute to architecture decisions to improve planner robustness, generalization, and efficiency.

Skills

C++

Motion planning

Trajectory optimization

Robotics

Real-time systems

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS, EE, Robotics

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 and nimble team composed of a core group of veterans from a variety of different robotics industries.

About the Role

We are seeking a seasoned Senior Planner Engineer with a proven track record of shipping production-level autonomy systems, with deep expertise in motion planning and trajectory optimization for unstructured, highly dynamic environments. The engineers will design, implement, and deploy behavior and motion planning algorithms that generate safe, reliable, and efficient motion plans amid uncertain agent behaviors and real-time unstructured constraints enable safe, reliable, and fully autonomous delivery. The ideal candidate has lived through the full development lifecycle of an autonomous product and intimately understands the practical challenges and trade-offs required to build planning systems that are not just novel, but robust, reliable, and performant. You will be a key technical voice, expected to solve our most critical challenges by drawing upon your extensive prior experience in the field.

You’re excited about this opportunity because you will…

• Design and ship real-time behavior and motion planning features for complex urban/suburb driving scenarios. Especially motion planning and trajectory optimization for unstructured highly dynamic environments
• Lead automation of root-cause analysis and systematically eliminate planner-related disengagements and long-tail failures.
• Build scalable evaluation, simulation, and validation frameworks to ensure safe rollout to new geo-fenced regions.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with perception, prediction, controls, and platform teams to deliver end-to-end autonomy improvements.
• Contribute to architecture decisions that improve planner robustness, generalization, and computational efficiency.

We’re excited about you because…

• You have a BS/MS/PhD in CS, EE, Robotics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• You have strong C++ software engineering experience building robust, production-quality systems.
• You have experience developing or deploying motion planning, trajectory optimization, robotics, or real-time decision-making systems.
• You are comfortable working with data-driven evaluation, simulation, and performance metrics to guide engineering decisions.

We expect this position to be filled by 12/21/2026

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.

• 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.$198,600-$292,000 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

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.