Jobs / United States / Doordash INC
Software Engineer, Planning & Controls - Autonomy & Robotics, DoorDash Air
Doordash INC · 🇺🇸 San Francisco, CA
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 396 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 147 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Doordash INC paid sponsored hires in similar roles88 certified filings for “Software Engineer” (Software Developers) in CA: $154k–$188k, median $188k. Most were filed at wage level I (41%) — 1 lottery entry, ≈15% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Doordash INC
The US Department of Labor certified 396 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 147 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Doordash INC →
About the role
DoorDash Labs is an independent team within DoorDash. We explore robotics and automation to transform last mile logistics in the long term. If you have a passion for applying robotics solutions in a service used by millions of people, then we want to talk to you! We're hiring a Planning & Controls Engineer in our Autonomy Software team. In this role, you'll own and develop flight control, motion planning, and mission planning algorithms for robust, fault-tolerant drone delivery. This is a hands-on role: you will design controllers, implement them in C++ on embedded platforms, test them in flight, and iterate. You're excited about this opportunity because you will… • Play an integral role on a small and focused team • Develop and tune low-level flight control algorithms for overactuated multirotor and hybrid aircraft on embedded platforms • Own the dynamics simulation and aerodynamics modeling of the aircraft • Bring up and tune flight controllers on new drone platforms • Develop, tune, and test fault-tolerant control (loss of one or more motors, safe landing, emergency behaviors) • Build a trajectory motion planner for smooth flight and obstacle avoidance within the operating envelope • Help develop the high-level mission route planner with fallback locations We're excited about you because… • You have deep controls fundamentals: linear and nonlinear systems, stability analysis, controller synthesis and tuning, frequency domain analysis, optimization, and linear algebra • You have excellent knowledge of C++ and embedded systems • You bring dynamics modeling and simulation experience with aerodynamics knowledge • You have experience developing and tuning flight controllers, interfacing with state estimation • You have excellent knowledge of motion planning algorithms (trajectory optimization and nonlinear optimization, A*/D*/RRT variants) • You have experience with sensorless brushless DC motor control • You've built or owned a robot control stack end-to-end, from design through implementation to hardware testing • MS/PhD degree in EE, ME, CS, Robotics, or related technical field • Nice to have experience includes: • Familiarity with PX4 internals (mixer, rate controller, position controller) • Experience with hybrid VTOL transition control • Experience with tethered or suspended payload dynamics • Contributions to open-source flight stacks or robotics frameworks • Published papers in controls, motion planning, or aerial robotics • Experience developing a Model Predictive Controller (MPC), including formulation, solver, and deployment 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 det