Principal Software Engineer, Ads (San Francisco)

About the TeamDoorDash Ads has become one of the fastest growing parts of DoorDash and a core pillar of the company's growth. Our Ads platform serves two core customer groups, Restaurant and CPG advertisers, and is rapidly expanding from enterprise into mid-market and SMB. The business is scaling fast, and we're building the infrastructure to match it. We are evolving from a first-generation platform into a sophisticated, full-funnel advertising system. The architectural decisions made now will define how DoorDash Ads scales across restaurants, retail, and grocery for the next decade.About the RoleAs a Principal Engineer on Ads, you will serve as the technical leader for the Ads organization, setting architectural direction and driving the long term technical strategy for the systems that power our entire advertising business. This is an individual contributor role with organization-wide technical authority and director level scope. You will define what we build, how we build it, and the engineering culture that outlasts any single project. You will partner closely with Machine Learning, Product, Data Science, and Infrastructure stakeholders to align on roadmap, scale foundational systems, and deliver high-impact outcomes that improve advertiser ROI, platform reliability, and consumer experience.You're excited about this opportunity because you will…Lead at scale.Serve as the technical lead for the Ads organization, providing architectural vision and direction across the full Ads stack.Influence across the organization. Drive alignment across ML, Infrastructure, Product, Data Science, and partner engineering teams. Mentor engineers across the Ads org to raise the bar on technical excellence and systems thinking.Shape engineering culture. Define the patterns, principles, and standards for how the Ads org designs, ships, and operates large scale distributed systems.Solve genuinely hard problems, hands on. Dig into the most complex distributed systems challenges in ads and write code that moves the needle.We're excited about you because you have… B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science or equivalent experience.12+ years of industry experience, with a proven track record of leading large-scale, high-impact platform initiatives that span product, engineering, and ML teams.Demonstrated ability to define and drive multi-year technical roadmaps that balance short-term product delivery with long-term platform health, with clear ownership of the architectural decisions that shape both.Deep expertise building and scaling platform systems that serve as the foundation for product experiences.Meaningful experience in ads, commerce, or marketplace platforms.Ability to operate at director level scope - driving technical strategy, communicating across executive stakeholders, and shaping organizational priorities - while remaining deeply hands-on.Exceptional technical intuition paired with strong cross functional influence and alignment skills.Humility and a growth mindset; you lead through expertise and collaboration, not hierarchy.CompensationThe 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 range for this position within the United States, including Illinois and Colorado.$268,600—$395,000 USDAbout DoorDashAt 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 InclusionWe’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 OnlyWe 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:.