Senior Mechanical Design Engineer — Electric Motors, DoorDash Air

This role is part of a small, high-impact team at DoorDash building a new autonomous delivery system from the ground up. As a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, you will design and develop high-performance electric motors primarily for UAV propulsion, with potential applications in other aircraft and ground equipment. You will own motors from concept through production, collaborating with cross-functional teams, performing structural and thermal FEA, and building prototypes using in-house machine shop and 3D printing tools. The role is on-site in San Francisco at least 3 days per week, with availability for 5 days required, and operates in a fast-paced, prototype-driven environment.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with:
• Electro-mechanical design experts on winding and magnet design.
• Internal, domestic and foreign manufacturing partners
• Electrical, systems, structural, aerodynamics, reliability, and test engineers as well as industrial design to refine requirements.
• Design mass and volume optimized rotor and stator structures.
• Bearing selection and bearing system design.
• Electrical wiring and connector selection and integration.
• Motor sensor selection and integration (rotary encoders, temperature, etc.)
• Perform structural and thermal finite element analysis (FEA) to optimize performance and reliability.
• Start to finish ownership of motors from concept through production.
• Build prototypes, fixtures, and test hardware using CNC tools and 3D printers.
• Design for outdoor commercial operation including ingress protection and harsh environmental survival.

Requirements

• Mechanical engineering bachelors degree and 3+ years of experience.
• Experience with dynamic mechanical systems (motors, actuators, mechanisms, etc.)
• Strong 3D modeling (CAD) skills for complex parts and assemblies.
• Self sufficient with at least basic structural and thermal simulation.
• Self sufficient with hands-on prototyping, metal fabrication, 3D printing.
• Competence with assembly and test fixture design.
• Familiar with electromechanical integration and wiring practices.
• Experience designing hardware for outdoor or harsh environments.
• Strong understanding of manufacturability and assembly methods.
• Comfortable working in an exploratory, fast-paced environment.

Nice to have

• Bonus points for experience with electric motor manufacturing processes and equipment.

Benefits

• 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).