Operations Research Intern (PhD), Summer 2027

About the Team

DoorDash is building the world’s most reliable on-demand logistics engine for delivery! We’re looking for experienced engineers to join our fast-growing engineering team to help us develop a 24x7 global infrastructure system that powers DoorDash’s three-sided marketplace of consumers, merchants, and dashers.

About the Role

This intern will report into a manager on the Assignment Engine team. We believe interns are essential to our mission of attracting and retaining top talent. During the 12 week Operations Research internship, interns will be completely immersed in their teams and will have the opportunity to develop, maintain & ship products. As an intern, you will directly impact our business by collaborating with your team to solve real problems for our customers.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. to be considered for this position. F-1 students are eligible if they are using Curricular Practical Training (CPT). DoorDash does not support students on J-1 visas at this time.

This position will be hosted in person at the DoorDash office in Sunnyvale, CA. #LI-Onsite

You're excited about this opportunity because you will…

• Design and implement improvements to our real-time on-demand dispatching algorithm
• Analyze data to understand each delivery at the lowest level of detail, perform cutting-edge research, and inspire new lines of work
• Collaborate with engineers, data scientists, product managers, business operators, and more to develop cross-cutting and scalable solutions to guide value for our consumers, dashers, and merchants
• Receive actionable feedback from your mentor and team members
• Socialize with and learn from colleagues all across the company, through events including Lunch and Learns with executive members, game nights, movie nights, intern offsites, and more

We're excited about you because… 

• Are a PhD student in operations research, industrial engineering, computer science or a related field graduating between Fall 2027 and Summer 2028
• Have research or industry experience working on complex optimization problems through mathematical programming or metaheuristics
• Have strong programming fundamentals, experience in object-oriented and/or functional programming languages, and a solid understanding of algorithms
• Have an excitement to analyze, iterate, and contribute to our state-of-the-art real-time dispatch system
• Experience developing algorithms for logistics problems, especially VRP and real-time dispatching problem
• Experience with mathematical programming software packages like Cplex, Gurobi, Coin-OR, or Xpress
• Production experience with a JVM-based language (ie Java, Kotlin, Scala)
• Experience with software development lifecycle (writing clean code, version control, unit testing, etc)
• Production experience with modern web applications at scale
• Experience with statistical analysis and machine learning algorithms
• Proficient in SQL and a visualization tool (ie Tableau, Chartio, Mode)

Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis

Compensation

Actual compensation within the pay range listed below will be decided based on factors including, but not limited to, skills, prior relevant experience, and specific work location. Base salary is localized according to employee work location. 

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 range for this position within the United States, including Illinois and Colorado.$130,600—$192,000 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.

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

We used 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 provided Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound from August 21, 2023, through December 21, 2023.  We resumed using Covey Scout for Inbound again on June 29, 2024, and ceased using Covey Scout for Inbound on April 30, 2026.

The Covey tool has been reviewed by an independent auditor. Results of the audit may be viewed here: https://getcovey.com/nyc-local-law-144.
Beware of recruitment scams: DoorDash, Deliveroo, and Wolt will never ask you to pay money or share sensitive financial information during hiring — learn more about our legitimate recruiting process at Recruitment Scam Awareness - DoorDash .