Within two months of joining DoorDash in 2021 as senior contingent workforce manager, Natalie Beaver partnered with procurement and launched an RFP. A traditional VMS was not quite the right fit for the company, so DoorDash opted for an extended workforce system tool that could be configured easily. And in August 2022, the tool went live, enabling global worker tracking and contractor recruitment in North America — quite a change of pace from what Beaver had experienced in her previous roles.

“At DoorDash, I felt really empowered and enabled to get the lay of the land and then say, ‘This is how the program should be structured,’ and act on it,” Beaver says.

Implementing a VMS/MSP requires balancing stakeholders’ needs while moving different teams in the right direction — all without interruptions to their workflow. With the MSP’s help, Beaver kept the implementation on track despite a major acquisition DoorDash was undertaking. She also educated the company on the nuances of a contingent workforce, clearly defining the different worker classifications and then creating policies, processes and formal governance revealing the ROI of classifying contingents appropriately while mitigating risk.

Although Beaver has since left for a strategic role at autonomous vehicle company Cruise, DoorDash will continue using her roadmap for the next phase of the program, which is to globalize the contractor recruitment channel.