About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Director of Hardware and Vehicle Development to own the full hardware lifecycle at DoorDash Labs - from detailed product engineering through volume manufacturing and field service. In your first 90 days, you will get deeply embedded with the engineering and manufacturing teams, lead the selection of a contract manufacturing partner, and develop a lean hiring plan to fill key gaps. A year from now, success looks like a scaled hardware organization, with a clear path to robot profitability and a team that can sustain growth without you being the bottleneck on every decision.
You're excited about this opportunity because you will...

• Own end-to-end hardware: lead engineering, manufacturing, and field service for our autonomous robot platform, with direct accountability for hitting scale milestones
• Build the team: shape the hardware organization from the ground up, with the authority and budget to bring in exceptional talent - including people from your own network
• Partner across the company: work closely with autonomy, product, and operations teams to translate system requirements into hardware decisions and manufacturing reality
• Drive profitability: lead the shift from proving the technology to reducing cost and improving efficiency, with robot-level profitability as a near-term goal
• Operate with real ownership: this is not a coordination role - you will set the roadmap, make the calls, and be accountable for outcomes in a program that is moving fast and has visible impact

We're excited about you because...

• You have 15+ years of experience in hardware, automotive, or a closely related field, with at least 4-5 years leading a hardware organization at the senior director or VP level
• You have taken a hardware program from early development through volume manufacturing - ideally building something from scratch where you had to develop new approaches rather than inherit mature processes
• You have a track record of building high-performing teams and bringing exceptional people with you - your former colleagues want to come work for you again
• You have selected and managed contract manufacturers and know what a strong CM relationship requires from selection through production ramp
• You are comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment with aggressive timelines, and you know how to identify which processes add value and which ones to skip

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.

$320,000-$400,000 USD