Operations Manager, Autonomous Safety

The posting, as DoorDash wrote it

About The Role

As Manager of Operational Safety, you will lead the team responsible for safety systems, incident response, and SOP governance for DoorDash's autonomous robot operations. You will set strategy, build and develop a team of safety specialists, and partner with engineering and product leadership to ensure safety is embedded into every phase of development. This is a senior leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of operational rigor and cutting-edge autonomy.

What You'll Do

• Lead and grow the safety team — hire, develop, and manage a team of operations safety specialists across remote and on-site functions
• Set SOP strategy — own the design, governance, and continuous improvement of standard operating procedures; drive compliance across all Labs programs
• Own safety analytics & reporting — establish metrics and KPIs for operational safety; present trends, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership
• Lead incident command — oversee critical incident triage and resolution; ensure root cause analysis and corrective action processes are rigorous and timely
• Drive cross-functional safety programs — partner with engineering, product, legal, and field operations to build safety into product design, launches, and scale
• Represent safety externally — engage with regulators, partners, and customers on safety standards and compliance as needed

What We're Looking For

Required

• 7+ years in operations, safety, or a related field — autonomy, robotics strongly preferred
• 2+ years managing or leading teams, with a track record of developing talent and building high-performing functions
• Proven experience designing and scaling safety or operational systems in a regulated or safety-critical environment
• Executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and present complex risk data clearly
• Strong analytical mindset; comfortable with ambiguity and fast-changing priorities
• Participate in on-call rotation and promptly respond to on-call events with urgency and rigor on nights and weekends.

Preferred

• Deep familiarity with safety management systems (SMS), ISO 45001, or equivalent frameworks
• Proven track record in designing, developing, and deploying comprehensive training programs and instructional materials.
• Experience with autonomous systems, robotics deployment, or fleet operations at scale
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, Jira, and SQL

Why This Role

• Build and lead the safety function at one of the most ambitious autonomy teams in tech
• Direct influence over systems that affect millions of real-world interactions
• High visibility to DoorDash senior leadership and a clear path to Director-level growth
• Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits

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,
[…]
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 Regarding Use of AI and Automated Tools: To streamline our hiring process, DoorDash utilizes an automated recruitment tool called Metaview.

How it works: Metaview assists our recruiting team by evaluating job related qualifications and characteristics in connection with hiring. The tool is designed and used to support - rather than replace - human decision-making; trained personnel make final decisions with meaningful human review and oversight, and DoorDash does not use Metaview or other AI-enabled tool in a manner that has the effect of subjecting applicants or employees to discrimination based on any protected characteristic or proxy or for engaging in any protected activity under applicable law.

Data Retention, Privacy & Bias Audit: Data collected during this process is retained in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy https://help.doordash.com/en-us/legal/article/ax-privacy-notice and applicable state laws. In compliance with New York City Local Law 144, the independent bias audit summary for Metaview is publicly available for review at https://trust.warden-ai.com/metaview/application-review .