Staff Software Engineer, Instacart
FoodStorm
CA$224-249k
+ New hire equity grant
Online grocery marketplace & grocery tech platform
Open for applications
Online grocery marketplace & grocery tech platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
CA$224-249k
+ New hire equity grant
1001+ employees
Company mission
To create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and have more time to enjoy it together.
Role
Who you are
- This role requires strong ownership of deliverables, as well as a proactive approach to technical challenges
- Extensive experience designing, building, and maintaining scalable systems and distributed architectures
- Proficiency in a modern programming language such as Python, Java, C#, or similar
- Strong hands-on experience with backend development and system integration
- Proven ability to solve complex technical problems in a collaborative environment
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with experience working across time zones (including ~2-hour overlap with Australia)
- Strong sense of ownership and accountability for delivering high-quality results
Desirable
- Familiarity with .NET Core, SOA patterns, and API integrations is a plus
- Experience working on system modernization or large-scale technical migrations (e.g., monolithic to SOA)
- Experience with front-end web development
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
- Knowledge of grocery retail, catering, or enterprise platform technologies
- A commitment to developing and deploying reliable, performant tools that deliver excellent partner and customer experiences
What the job involves
- As a Senior Software Engineer on the FoodStorm team, you will play a pivotal role in modernizing FoodStorm’s on demand ordering, catering, and prepared food platform
- You’ll contribute to rearchitecting the system using a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach, with a focus on building efficient, scalable, and maintainable solutions
- With hands-on coding, deep problem-solving, and close collaboration with cross-functional teams—including an international engineering team in Australia—you’ll help improve the platform’s performance, reliability, and integration with Instacart systems
- The FoodStorm team is leading the evolution of on demand ordering, catering, and prepared food management systems, empowering Instacart’s retail and grocery partners to streamline operations and expand their reach
- We work on high-impact projects, providing solutions for seamless order management, partner integrations, and end-customer experiences
- We value high levels of ownership, independence, technical excellence, and an entrepreneurial spirit
- Actively contribute to the rearchitecture of FoodStorm’s platform, focusing on scalability and maintainability through a service-oriented approach
- Implement high-quality software solutions to enable seamless integration between FoodStorm and Instacart’s systems
- Conduct hands-on coding, technical problem-solving, and system optimization
- Collaborate closely with engineers, product managers, and designers across teams to ensure alignment on technical strategy and implementation
- Partner with the Australia-based engineering team, ensuring effective collaboration during overlapping work hours (~2 hours daily)
- Provide technical mentorship to peers, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement
- Help identify and implement best practices to improve the team’s efficiency and system performance
Our take
Instacart is an online grocery marketplace that operates a pick-up and delivery system in the US and Canada. Unlike standard grocery shopping, Instacart sends a “personal shopper” to your local store to buy your products, who then delivers them straight to your door on the same day via their own car. The company also supplies the Instacart Platform, with services for stores encompassing eCommerce, fulfilment, in-store, ads, and insights.
The increased modernization of society has meant more than ever that consumers are looking to buy their groceries online, making space for apps like Instacart to become daily life staples for years to come. Although the company must compete with other grocery store delivery services, such as Walmart’s own, it has expanded to cover large percentages of US and Canadian households, and is now aligned with over 900 retail banners across more than 75,000 locations.
Instacart's software offerings signify the company's focus on tech, designed to move it away from its dependence on the gig economy. To this end, the company has acquired FoodStorm, an order management system that powers end-to-end order-ahead and catering, integrating its technology into its enterprise suite. Despite an IPO in September 2023, market downturns have necessitated a 7% workforce cut in 2024, focused on middle management and creating a flatter organisational structure. With a new streamlined workforce, here's to hoping Instacart can maintain its momentum.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
7% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 14 rounds)
Nov 2021
$232m
LATE VC
Mar 2021
$265m
LATE VC
Total funding: $2.9bn
Company benefits
- 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 and company-wide Self-Checkouts where we encourage everyone to sign off.
- 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 US and RRSP in Canada, student loan assistance through Peanut Butter, free Rocket Lawyer membership, SoFi & First Republic financial planning and more.
- Four Year Fill-Up: We encourage our tenured employees to take longer breaks and truly unplug by doing something they love – typically four consecutive weeks around the four year mark.
- 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.
Company HQ
The East Cut, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Apoorva Mehta
(Co-Founder & Chairman)Studied Electrical Engineering at University of Waterloo. Worked in Fulfillment Optimisation SDE at Amazon.com before going on to co-found Instacart.
Brandon Leonardo
(Co-Founder)Interned at Cisco Systems as an IT Engineer. Later became a Senior Web Developer at Webs and then a Venture Hacker at Angel List.
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