Engineering Manager, Discovery Experience

About the role

In this leadership position, you will own the end-to-end strategy and execution for the DoorDash homepage, which serves as the primary gateway for millions of consumer interactions every day. You will guide the evolution of discovery experiences across iOS, Android, and Web platforms as the organization transitions toward an LLM-driven, intent-based recommendation paradigm. The role requires you to balance technical depth with product intuition to ensure that the discovery surface remains performant, relevant, and scalable. You will be responsible for translating high-level business goals into concrete engineering outcomes while maintaining a strong focus on user experience and conversion. This position sits at the intersection of machine learning, frontend performance, and consumer product strategy, making it critical to the future of how customers find food and retail options. You will partner closely with data scientists and recommendation engineers to validate hypotheses and iterate on models that power personalized homepages. Ultimately, your decisions will shape how efficiently users move from exploration to order completion across the DoorDash ecosystem.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Manage and scale a high-performing, full-stack engineering team dedicated to the consumer discovery surface, ensuring alignment with company objectives.
• Collaborate with Product, Design, Data Science, and ML/Recommendation Platform teams to define and refine the multi-year discovery roadmap for mobile and web.
• Architect robust backend systems and APIs that enable fast, personalized homepage rendering while maintaining reliability and scalability.
• Lead the implementation of LLM-generated recommendations to create intent-aware discovery flows across food, grocery, and retail verticals.
• Establish and monitor product metrics such as conversion rate, order completion, and session depth to evaluate the success of discovery experiments.
• Mentor engineers, provide career growth guidance, and foster a culture of excellence within a rapidly scaling engineering organization.
• Partner with design and research teams to iterate on UI patterns that improve clarity, engagement, and accessibility on the discovery interface.
• Evaluate and integrate new technologies, frameworks, and infrastructure improvements that enhance the performance of mobile and web applications.
• Coordinate cross-team dependencies to ensure timely delivery of features without compromising code quality or system stability.
• Drive A/B testing strategies and analyze results to inform data-driven decisions on layout, ranking, and content prioritization.
• Work closely with operations and logistics teams to ensure that discovery features reflect real-time availability and service capabilities.
• Define technical standards and best practices for frontend components, API contracts, and data flow within the discovery platform.
• Contribute to long-term platform planning by identifying technical debt and opportunities for architectural simplification.
• Act as a bridge between executive stakeholders and engineering teams to communicate progress, risks, and trade-offs clearly.

Requirements

• Hold a B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Computer Science or a closely related technical field.
• Bring a minimum of 7 years of hands-on industry experience in software engineering or a related role.
• Demonstrate at least 2 years of proven experience in engineering management, leading teams through delivery cycles.
• Show experience managing cross-functional engineering disciplines, including backend services, Android, iOS, and Web technologies.
• Exhibit a strong ability to translate ambiguous business and product requirements into scalable, maintainable technical solutions.
• Have a track record of working effectively with non-technical stakeholders such as product managers, designers, and executives in fast-paced settings.
• Understand the constraints and trade-offs involved in mobile app performance, network efficiency, and user experience on low-end devices.
• Comply with DoorDash policies and local fair chance ordinances regarding applicants with arrest or conviction records where applicable.

Skills & tools

• Full-stack engineering management with exposure to both frontend and backend technology decisions.
• Hands-on familiarity with LLM integration patterns and modern recommendation system architectures.
• Deep experience in mobile development for iOS and Android, along with robust web application architectures.
• Strong background in cross-functional product strategy and lifecycle management from discovery to deployment.
• Proficiency in analyzing large datasets and deriving actionable insights to guide product and engineering decisions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for influencing stakeholders without direct authority.

Nice to have

• Prior experience working with generative AI models in a production recommendation or search environment.
• Background in managing distributed teams across multiple time zones in a SaaS or marketplace environment.
• Knowledge of experimentation platforms, statistical analysis methods, and metric-driven decision frameworks.
• Experience contributing to open source projects or technical communities that focus on e-commerce or marketplace technologies.

Practical notes

• This is a full-time position based in the United States, with compensation including equity grants in addition to the base salary.
• Employees are eligible for comprehensive benefits, including a 401(k) plan with employer matching contributions.
• The company provides 16 weeks of paid parental leave to support bonding, adoption, or foster care placement.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage is available, along with wellness programs and mental health resources.
• Salaried employees receive flexible paid time off and 80 hours of paid sick time annually to manage personal and family needs.
• DoorDash maintains compliance with local fair chance ordinances, ensuring fair consideration for applicants with past arrests or convictions.
• For roles based in New York City, the company utilizes Covey Scout for Inbound as part of the hiring workflow, and this tool has undergone independent auditing to support candidate privacy and accuracy.
• Interested candidates should be prepared for multiple stages of interviews, including technical discussions and scenario-based exercises relevant to discovery and product management.
• This role may involve occasional travel between Bay Area offices in San Francisco and Sunnyvale as needed for team collaboration and planning sessions.
• Applicants are encouraged to highlight relevant experience in managing technical roadmaps that intersect machine learning, consumer products, and marketplace operations.