Staff Software Engineer, Data Governance – Foundations

Instacart

Staff engineer shaping Instacart’s open lakehouse, governance, and distributed compute platform. Driving streaming infrastructure, AI-native tooling, reliability, and cost efficiency at scale.

Posted 8/7/2026full-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 StatesLead💰 $221,000 - $279,500 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive experience in building and operating production-scale data infrastructure, with a strong focus on modern data lakehouse architectures and real-time streaming infrastructure. Proven ability to lead architectural strategy, mentor engineering teams, and drive alignment across technical and executive stakeholders.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Data Lakehouse ArchitectureReal-Time Streaming InfrastructureDistributed Systems ExpertiseSQL ProficiencyPython or Scala Skills

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Data InfrastructureDistributed SystemsApache IcebergDelta LakeHudiTrinoSparkKafkaFlinkCost/Benefit Modeling

Soft Skills

MentoringCommunicationInfluencing

Tools & Technologies

Apache AirflowDbt

Certifications & Qualifications

Bachelor’s DegreeMaster’s DegreePhD in Engineering or Computer Science

Industry Keywords

Platform GovernanceCompliance FrameworksSOXCPRAGDPRFinOps

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AirflowApacheDistributed SystemsKafkaPythonScalaSparkSQL

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Translate Instacart’s data strategy into an actionable multi-year architecture roadmap and align it with leadership.
Own the open lakehouse foundation, including unified table formats, storage governance, and multi-engine compute.
Drive real-time and streaming infrastructure for Ads, Fraud, and ML use cases.
Apply LLM/AI tools to development, automation, observability, and cost optimization, and help embed AI capabilities into the platform.
Lead architecture reviews, mentor senior/staff engineers, influence hiring, and communicate technical trade-offs across technical and executive audiences.

Requirements

What you’ll need

10+ years of software engineering experience building and operating production-scale data infrastructure or distributed systems
Hands-on expertise with modern data lakehouse architectures and open table formats such as Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Hudi
Experience with distributed query/compute engines such as Trino, Spark, or ClickHouse, including performance tuning and production reliability
Experience with event-driven and streaming infrastructure such as Kafka or Flink
Proven ownership of major platform transitions or migrations delivered to production
Ability to build cost/benefit and TCO models for infrastructure investments
Ability to drive alignment through architecture documents and strategy memos across teams and leadership levels
Preferred: platform governance controls and compliance frameworks such as SOX, CPRA, or GDPR
Preferred: FinOps experience, multi-million-dollar infrastructure budgets, and vendor contract negotiation
Preferred: deep SQL proficiency and strong Python or Scala skills
Preferred: orchestration and data transformation pipelines such as Apache Airflow and dbt
Preferred: Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in a relevant engineering or computer science field, or equivalent practical experience

Benefits

Comp & perks

New hire equity grant
Annual refresh equity grants
Flexible choice of work location, including home, office, or coffee shop
Regular in-person events
Market-competitive compensation and benefits