Senior Software Engineer, Core Experience

Overview

This role challenges traditional approaches to digital shopping by improving backend systems that power a seamless user journey. You will lead efforts to enhance content discoverability and purchase processes, helping to perfect the interaction between user desires and our vast product offerings.

About The Role

The Senior Software Engineer will focus on enhancing the user experience by developing robust backend architectures that support advanced recommendation and personalization systems. In close collaboration with ML engineers, product teams, and data scientists, you will lead the innovation of our backend services, enabling sophisticated, data-driven features that adapt to our customers' shopping behaviors.

About the Team

The Core Experience teams are dedicated to creating engaging and straightforward shopping experiences. You will be part of a team that is at the heart of product innovation, focusing on everything from the user interfaces to the underlying systems that support our web and mobile platforms. Our team’s work is guided by a data-driven methodology that ensures decisions are aligned with consumer needs, helping us move swiftly and efficiently in our development processes.

Overview of the Core Experiences teams that are currently hiring:

Orders Quality Team:

The Order Quality Team at Instacart is crucial in delivering a seamless and dependable shopping experience. We focus on three key areas:

• Availability: Predicting item availability using machine learning and real-time data.
• Replacements: Developing algorithms to identify optimal substitutes for unavailable items.
• Order Status Updates: Maintaining real-time transparency through integrated live activity tracking.

Search Team:

As a Software Engineer on the Search Results team, you will play a crucial role in shaping the future of search technology at Instacart. Your work will directly impact the experience of millions of customers, helping them find the products they need quickly and efficiently.

About the Job

Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain high-quality backend applications.
• Lead the development of our backend system's roadmap, prioritizing scalability and reliability.
• Innovate and think creatively to develop new features that enhance our customer's shopping experiences.
• Own and lead major components of our product, ensuring they meet both internal standards and external expectations.
• Collaborate across teams to foster a unified approach to product development, facilitating consensus and driving effective outcomes.
• Responsible for the strategic planning and execution of projects you oversee, from inception to deployment and maintenance.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend development experience, with a strong record of project delivery.
• Proficiency in backend languages, such as Ruby or Go.
• A solid foundation in unit testing and problem-solving.
• Exceptional communication skills and the ability to lead and collaborate with diverse teams.
• Holds a Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with recommender systems and personalization algorithms.
• Familiarity with ML model development and iteration.
• Deep understanding of feed architecture principles.
• Skilled in the use of monitoring and observability tools like Datadog.
• Extensive experience with database management, particularly PostgreSQL.