Instacart is looking to transform the grocery industry by shifting customer habits from using Instacart as a convenience tool towards healthier, convenient, and personalized meal shopping experiences, leveraging advanced AI to redefine how families experience meals.
Requirements
- Python + one of Go/Java; strong SQL.
- Built/operated production services/APIs (REST/gRPC) with tests & observability.
- Data/storage: Postgres/MySQL, Redis; comfort with eventing (Kafka/Pub/Sub).
- ML: PyTorch/TensorFlow (or scikit-learn), trained/evaluated models, deployed inference endpoints or batch jobs.
- Hands-on model serving using FastAPI/gRPC or a serving framework (Triton/TorchServe/Bento).
- Practical ETL/feature work with Spark/Flink or SQL-based pipelines; exposure to a feature store or lightweight model registry.
- LLM experience: built prompt-based integrations (e.g., retrieval + prompt templates, tools/agents, function calling, guardrails), evaluated prompts with offline metrics, and shipped at least one workflow using an API (OpenAI/Anthropic/Vertex/Ollama).
Responsibilities
- Design and build reliable services (REST/gRPC), data pipelines, and model inference paths that turn ideas into measurable impact.
- Design and implement scalable software solutions that include writing clean, maintainable, and efficient code.
- Develop and enhance features, collaborating with cross-functional teams for system integration.
- Troubleshoot applications, conduct code reviews, and continuously improve engineering practices.
- Design robust and adaptable software systems that support the dynamic requirements of our product, incorporating new technologies to boost system efficiency.
- Set standards for system scalability and reliability.
- Collaborate with product managers to ensure architectural choices support the product roadmap and assess how the system integrates with external services and APIs.
Other
- Clear communicator; drives projects end-to-end with measurable impact.
- 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.
- Work closely with PM, Design, and Data Science to translate ambiguous problems into clear milestones, instrument experiments, and iterate quickly based on metrics and user feedback.
- Lead the exploration and implementation of new technologies to enhance system performance, championing best practices in software development and architecture.
- Drive the resolution of intricate technical challenges while fostering a culture of excellence and innovation in the team.
