About the RoleWe're hiring a State Estimation & Perception Engineer in our Autonomy Software team. In this role, you'll own and develop the perception and state estimation for our package pickup and delivery system. You'll influence system design decisions, including sensor selection, sensing architecture, and observability analysis, at the earliest stage when choices still matter.
You're excited about this opportunity because you will...- Play an integral role on a small and focused team
- Own tuning and implementation of the state estimation stack on the drone (PX4 EKF modifications, fault tolerance, multi-sensor fusion with VIO and laser odometry)
- Own state estimation and perception of the delivery mechanism, including dynamics modeling, observation model design, and sensor selection
- Work closely with controls and planning to close the loop on automated pickup and delivery
- Work closely with the hardware team to define sensing principles and sensor placement
- Design and execute flight test campaigns to validate estimator performance
- Identify and resolve failure modes in estimation (degenerate geometries, sensor dropout, initialization)
We're excited about you because...- You have deep experience with state estimation and filtering (EKF, UKF, MSCKF, particle filters)
- You have experience with optimization-based methods (factor graphs, GTSAM, Ceres, SymForce)
- You have experience with visual-inertial odometry (VIO) and/or laser odometry (LIO)
- You're proficient in modern computer vision (feature extraction, tracking, depth estimation)
- You have strong C++ and/or Rust skills, with Python for prototyping and analysis
- You have experience deploying estimation on real hardware with real sensor noise
- You can derive an EKF from scratch, including process model, measurement model, observability analysis, and consistency checks
- You have deep linear algebra knowledge (matrix decompositions, sparsity exploitation, numerical conditioning)
- You've closed a perception-to-control loop on real hardware under degraded conditions
- You're comfortable operating at the intersection of theory and embedded reality
- You're driven by a passion for delivering outstanding customer experiences
- You have a proactive approach to development, often crafting new tools
- MS/PhD degree in CS, EE, ME, Robotics, or related technical field
Nice to have experience includes- Experience with PX4 / ArduPilot EKF internals
- Experience with multi-body state estimation (tethered or suspended payloads)
- Familiarity with SLAM in GPS-denied environments
- Publications or open-source contributions in state estimation or VIO
- You've debugged estimator failures in the field, not just in simulation
Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis
CompensationThe 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.
$198,600-$292,000 USD
