Senior Software Engineer II, Logistic Foundation

Instacart

Senior Software Engineer leading high-visibility platform initiatives for logistics at Instacart. Delivering scalable, reliable architecture with a focus on efficiency and compliance.

Posted 4/20/2026full-timeRemote • California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $192,000 - $242,000 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

GoPythonRuby

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own and drive complex platform workstreams end-to-end — from engineering design docs through implementation, launch coordination, war room monitoring, and ongoing support.
Design, build, and operate high-quality, high-throughput distributed backend services with clear SLOs, robust observability, and well-run on-call/incident response practices.
Analyze and refine service and data architectures; propose and lead new systems that improve reliability, scalability, and operational excellence.
Establish and champion engineering standards through rigorous design reviews, production readiness, on-call ownership, and continuous improvement of instrumentation and alerting.
Partner with Legal, Finance, and Policy to deliver compliance-ready solutions across multiple jurisdictions and regulatory frameworks, balancing urgency with long-term maintainability.
Drive the adoption of modern technologies and AI toolsets to accelerate development, improve quality, and increase delivery velocity; mentor peers and influence platform roadmaps.
Contribute across critical fulfillment domains — earnings, pricing, routing, batching, matching, dispatch, and geospatial — delivering solutions that directly impact customers, shoppers, and partners.

Requirements

What you’ll need

7+ years of backend software development experience delivering scalable, production systems end-to-end.
Proficiency in at least one backend language such as Ruby, Python, or Go.
Hands-on experience building and operating large-scale distributed backend services with defined SLOs, on-call ownership, observability, and incident response.
Proven track record independently leading complex, cross-functional projects with high ambiguity and hard external deadlines.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including authoring technical artifacts (e.g., ERDs, design docs) and coordinating launches with non-engineering stakeholders.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work.
Flexible work arrangements.
New hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants.
Professional development opportunities.

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

backend software developmentRubyPythonGodistributed backend servicesSLOsobservabilityincident responsedata architecturesengineering design

Soft Skills

communication skillsleadershipproject managementmentoringcollaborationproblem-solvingcontinuous improvementtechnical writingcross-functional coordinationadaptability

Certifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science