Machine Learning 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 machine learning engineer interns 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

As a Machine Learning Engineer intern at Doordash, you’ll work on tackling new challenges in machine learning and artificial intelligence. You’ll conduct research that can be applied across Doordash engineering teams and engage in external collaborations and mentoring, while also performing research in any of the following areas: Auction, Game theory, Recommender systems, Ranking, AdTech, Computer Vision, Causal Inference, and Big data analytics. We offer a 12-week summer internship program in our San Francisco, Sunnyvale, New York, or Seattle offices.

You’re excited about this opportunity because you will…

• Use cutting-edge research in ML/AI, NLP, RecSys, Ranking, Computer Vision, Causal Inference, Ad Tech, Graph analysis to solve real-world problems across discovery, ads,forecasting, fulfillment and search experiences at Doordash.

• Contribute and execute on research ideas that can be applied and used to improve product experience at Doordash.

• Collect, analyze, and synthesize findings from data and use these insights to build relevant ML models.

• Write clean, efficient, and sustainable code

We’re excited about you because you…

• Are working towards a PhD degree in Computer Science, ML, NLP, Statistics, Information Sciences or related field and are graduating between Fall 2027 & Summer 2028

• Have a mastery of at least one systems languages (Java, C++, Python, Kotlin, GoLang) or one ML framework (Tensorflow, Pytorch, MLFlow)

• Have experience in research and in solving analytical problems

• Are a strong communicator and team player.

• Have a passion for applied ML and the Doordash product

• Ideally have worked on publications in machine learning, AI, data science, data analytics, statistics, or related technical fields

Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis

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

$130,600 — $192,000 USD

I5

$159,800 — $235,000 USD

I6

$193,800 — $285,000 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 .