Staff Software Engineer

Carrotai

Confirmed live in the last 24 hours

Locations

Remote • United States

Experience Level

Entry

Junior

Mid

Senior

Expert

Desired Skills

SQL

Requirements

10+ years of software development experience
A strong sense of ownership
Self-motivation and an enjoyment for a startup environment
Experience working with ML systems, ML Engineers and ML Researchers
Solid understanding of common back-end Web technologies in a production environment
An ability to balance priorities with shipping high quality and pragmatic solutions
Experience working with a large codebase shared with multi-functional teams
Strong knowledge of SQL
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or equivalent work experience
ML: Expertise in application of advanced query understanding models/ LLMs, search retrieval, and ranking
Experiment frameworks and data driven approach to development

Responsibilities

We work in small teams with significant ownership and autonomy over your project
You'll be working across teams, solving big problems at an organizational level that changes how Instacart operates
Design, implement, and ship high quality features with a strong sense of urgency and accountability
Work closely with product managers, designers, data scientists, and peer engineering teams to define project requirements and execution plans
Ensure that system designs including APIs, deployment architecture, and dependency selection result in highly scalable, robust solutions that minimize support costs and improve an outstanding customer experience
Contribute broadly to Instacart's success by exercising your freedom to suggest and drive organization-wide initiatives

We’re transforming the grocery industry

At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.

Instacart has become a lifeline for millions of people, and we’re building the team to help push our shopping cart forward. If you’re ready to do the best work of your life, come join our table.

Instacart is a Flex First team

There’s no one-size fits all approach to how we do our best work. Our employees have the flexibility to choose where they do their best work—whether it’s from home, an office, or your favorite coffee shop—while staying connected and building community through regular in-person events. Learn more about our flexible approach to where we work.

OVERVIEW

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are investing heavily in the next-generation of AI on Instacart. At our velocity and volume-level we need the ability to deploy new products and features faster and better. That’s our choice for the traditional 3-dimensional engineering trade-off decision. Come help to build the best new user experience anywhere. We are creating new architectural designs and new services that couple best-in-class engineering with highly-informed business knowledge.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Instacart has a four sided marketplace, and we have roles open within each of our Engineering orgs. In our interview process we will evaluate how your skills would fit within one of these teams, and match you with the role(s) that are best related to your interests and abilities.

The Instacart App team focuses on the end customer, building technology and experiences to enrich their everyday lives and make the act of grocery shopping easier and more joyful. Within that space, the CarrotAI team is focused on the application of Large Language Models (LLMs) to transform the shopping experience and build out previously unimaginable features. We operate as a tiger team within the company to iterate quickly and bring these experiences from the lab to market.

ABOUT THE JOB

We work in small teams with significant ownership and autonomy over your project
You’ll be working across teams, solving big problems at an organizational level that changes how Instacart operates
Design, implement, and ship high quality features with a strong sense of urgency and accountability
Work closely with product managers, designers, data scientists, and peer engineering teams to define project requirements and execution plans
Ensure that system designs including APIs, deployment architecture, and dependency selection result in highly scalable, robust solutions that minimize support costs and improve an outstanding customer experience
Contribute broadly to Instacart’s success by exercising your freedom to suggest and drive organization-wide initiatives

ABOUT YOU

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

10+ years of software development experience
A strong sense of ownership
Self-motivation and an enjoyment for a startup environment
Experience working with ML systems, ML Engineers and ML Researchers
Solid understanding of common back-end Web technologies in a production environment
An ability to balance priorities with shipping high quality and pragmatic solutions
Experience working with a large codebase shared with multi-functional teams.
Strong knowledge of SQL
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or equivalent work experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Do you have exceptional experience with, skills for, or just interest in any of the following software engineering areas? We are looking for someone who has a good mix of the following traits:

ML: Expertise in application of advanced query understanding models/ LLMs, search retrieval, and ranking
Experiment frameworks and data driven approach to development

Instacart’s technology is constantly evolving and adapting. Some of the technologies you would use in our teams at Instacart include:

Ruby on Rails framework using Sorbet for strong-typing
Python and advanced ML modeling frameworks
Client-facing flexible APIs exposed via GraphQL
Postgres and Snowflake backend relational data stores
Async durable event handling infrastructure including async RPC via AWS SNS/SQS, RabbitMQ
Caching and durable job dispatching using Memcached and Redis
Auto-scaling elastic service deployments built on AWS ECS, ALBs, and supporting cloud services
Rich monitoring and alerting infrastructure built on AWS Cloud Watch, DataDog, Sentry, OpsGenie and supporting services
Any new integrations you will research, propose, implement, and deploy!

#LI-Remote

Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work. This role is remote and the base pay range for a successful candidate is dependent on their permanent work location. Please review our Flex First remote work policy here.

Offers may vary based on many factors, such as candidate experience and skills required for the role. Additionally, this role is eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants. Please read more about our benefits offerings here.

For US based candidates, the base pay ranges for a successful candidate are listed below.

CA, NY, CT, NJ

$234,000—$260,000 USD

$224,000—$249,000 USD

OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI

$214,000—$238,000 USD

All other states

$195,000—$217,000 USD

Accommodations & Accessibility

At Instacart, we strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you need assistance submitting an application through our career site due to a disability, please submit an Accommodations Request Form and someone from our team will reach out soon to see how we may be able to assist.

10,001+ employees

Website

Grocery delivery app

Company Overview

Instacart's mission is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. The company operates a mobile app for the delivery and pick-up of groceries and household items.

Benefits

Go far together
Grow the pie
Roll up your sleeves
Put it all on the table
Serve generously

Company Core Values

Wellness Tailored to You - Medical, dental, vision, retirement, life & disability coverage right alongside physical & mental wellness programs, memberships and stipends to keep you and your family feeling your best.
Family Building Benefits - No matter where you are in your family journey, we support you. Our plans cover modern family planning for all. We offer leave for all parents, flexible working schedules and an active Parents@ community.
Work From Home Stipend - We help outfit your WFH setup and offer reimbursements so you can be your most productive while at home.
Flexible Time Off - We all recharge differently. Take the time you need with our flexible time off policy.
Learning & Development - Whether you’re just starting your career or leading teams, we provide customized L&D programs to help you grow and an annual allowance to pursue your development.
Future Planning - We have you covered as you plan for your future. 401(k) matching in the U.S. and RRSP in Canada, student loan assistance through Peanut Butter, free Rocket Lawyer membership, SoFi & First Republic financial planning and more.
Community Connection - Support the communities you care about with volunteer weeks and get involved with our social impact program, Instacart Serves.
Instacart Express Membership - We help keep your fridge stocked. Unlock grocery discounts with our Instacart Beta app while testing our latest features.