Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Reinforcement Learning)

About the Team

Come help us build the world's most reliable local e-commerce platform for on-demand last-mile grocery and retail delivery! We're looking for an experienced senior machine learning engineer to help us develop the cutting-edge reinforcement learning models that power DoorDash's growing grocery and retail business. 

About the Role

We’re looking for a passionate Applied Machine Learning expert to join our team. As a Reinforcement Learning expert, you’ll be conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and validating algorithmic improvements to the reinforcement learning system at the heart of our fast-growing grocery and retail delivery business.  You will use our robust data and machine learning infrastructure to implement new ML solutions to make our product selection and inventory information more accurate and real time,  as well as help Dasher efficiency. We’re looking for someone with a command of production-level machine learning and experience with solving end-user problems who enjoys collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.

You’re excited about this opportunity because you will…

• Develop production machine learning solutions to solve reinforcement learning problems such as multi-armed bandits, contextual bandits, Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), and deep reinforcement learning (e.g., DQN, actor–critic methods).
• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders across engineering, product, and business strategy to help shape a product roadmap driven by machine learning, accelerating the growth of a multi-billion-dollar retail delivery ecosystem.
• Explore and harness diverse data sources, leveraging intuitive models and fostering a culture of flexible experimentation. Your goal will be to continuously improve the shopping and dashing experiences, delivering solutions that are not only effective but also scalable and user-centric.
• Drive impact and enjoy ample room for both personal and professional growth. This includes opportunities for deep technical development and leadership as you work within a growing team that is actively unlocking new markets for the company.
• Innovate and experiment with cutting-edge technologies and methodologies in AI and ML. You’ll have the freedom to explore emerging technologies, test new ideas, and drive technical innovation in the reinforcement learning space, directly shaping the future of our retail and delivery solutions.

We’re excited about you because you have…

• Industry experience developing machine learning models with business impact, and shipping ML solutions to production. You have successfully shipped ML solutions to production and understand the nuances of transitioning models from development to real-world environments.
• Deep expertise in applied reinforcement learning, with hands-on experience solving challenging RL-related problems and implementing solutions that drive customer value. Your knowledge extends to solving complex sequential decision making tasks.
• Strong machine learning and programming skills, particularly in Python, with experience in key ML/RL frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, RLlib, TorchRL, etc. You’re able to implement scalable models and optimize performance for production systems.
• You must be located near one of our engineering hubs which includes: San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York
• M.S., or PhD. in Machine Learning/Reinforcement Learning, Statistics, Computer Science, Math, Operations Research, Physics, Economics, or other quantitative field is a plus
• Familiarity with causal inference and experimentation techniques, enabling you to design and evaluate experiments that validate the effectiveness of ML models and ensure the product’s continuous improvement.

Notice to Applicants for Jobs Located in NYC or Remote Jobs Associated With Office in NYC Only

We use Covey as part of our hiring and/or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT in NYC. As part of the hiring and/or promotion process, we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound from August 21, 2023, through December 21, 2023, and resumed using Covey Scout for Inbound again on June 29, 2024.

The Covey tool has been reviewed by an independent auditor. Results of the audit may be viewed here: Covey

**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 ranges for this position within the United States, including Illinois and Colorado.

I4

$137,100—$201,600 USD

I5

$167,800—$246,800 USD

I6

$203,500—$299,300 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: 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.