Senior Android Engineer, Caper

Instacart; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 217,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Flexible work environment

Employee equity grants

Job summary

A leading grocery delivery service is hiring an Android Engineer to develop and optimize Android applications for innovative in-store retail solutions. The role involves collaborating across teams to create user interfaces and ensuring high performance in constrained environments. Ideal candidates will have over 6 years of experience in Android development, proficiency in Kotlin, and a strong collaborative mindset. This position allows for hybrid work flexibility with competitive compensation and benefits.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of Android development experience focused on customer-facing applications.
• Expertise in real-time networking technologies like MQTT and socket connections.
• Experience with Kotlin and Jetpack libraries.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement scalable Android applications for smart carts.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to create intuitive interfaces.
• Optimize performance for Android apps in resource-constrained environments.

Skills

Android development

Kotlin

Real-time networking

Unit testing

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or Master’s in Computer Science

Tools

Jetpack libraries

RxJava

Kotlin coroutines

Performance optimization tools

Job description

We're transforming the grocery industry
At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.
Instacart has become a lifeline for millions of people, and we’re building the team to help push our shopping cart forward. If you’re ready to do the best work of your life, come join our table.
Instacart is a Flex First team
There’s no one-size fits all approach to how we do our best work. Our employees have the 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. Learn more about our flexible approach to where we work.

Overview

About the Role – As an Android Engineer at Caper, you’ll play a central role in creating seamless shopping experiences by building and optimizing our Android-based applications that power revolutionary in-store retail solutions. You’ll work on cutting‑edge technologies to contribute directly to the development of intuitive and high‑performance interfaces for devices like smart carts, mobile apps, and embedded systems. Your innovations will delight shoppers worldwide while helping retailers streamline operations and achieve new levels of efficiency.

About the Team

The Android team at Caper (Instacart) is transforming the in‑store shopping experience with cutting‑edge technology. As part of Instacart’s Connected Stores initiative, we help retailers around the world create seamless omnichannel shopping experiences by powering intelligent devices like the Caper Cart – an AI‑driven smart cart that combines computer vision, IoT, and advanced Android interfaces to enable a frictionless, grab‑and‑go shopping journey.

We thrive on collaboration, tackling challenges at the intersection of hardware, software, and artificial intelligence. From designing intuitive user experiences to optimizing performance on resource‑constrained devices, the Android team plays a vital role in making grocery shopping seamless, efficient, and enjoyable for everyone.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and implement scalable and robust Android applications that power Caper products, including smart carts and devices for Connected Stores.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams across Product, Design, and Backend Engineering to create intuitive and functional interfaces.
• Optimize performance and reliability for Android applications in resource‑constrained hardware environments.
• Build and refine systems to monitor and analyze performance at scale, ensuring seamless user experiences.
• Drive team initiatives in building scalable, maintainable, and testable mobile codebases.
• Lead performance best practices to optimize Android platforms and ensure low‑latency interactions.
• Work with QA to guide and improve automation processes for cart and app testing.
• Stay updated with new Android technologies, frameworks, and trends, and champion their adoption where applicable.
• Be a mentor and solid contributor to the team, advocating for best coding practices and fostering a culture of collaboration and quality.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 6+ years of Android development experience, with a focus on customer‑facing applications.
• Proficiency in Kotlin and deep expertise in Android development technologies like Jetpack libraries (e.g., Compose, Room, MVVM).
• Experience building applications that communicate with IoT or connected devices.
• Expertise in real‑time networking technologies (e.g., MQTT, socket connections) and building reliable low‑latency systems.
• A proven track record of optimizing app performance in resource‑constrained environments.
• Familiarity with both RxJava and Kotlin coroutines, with a practical understanding of asynchronous programming.
• Hands‑on experience with rigorous unit testing and building maintainable, testable codebases.
• A collaborative mindset and ability to effectively influence cross‑functional teams.
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Ability to come in to the NYC office 2‑3x a week as this role requires some in‑office days.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience with embedded Android on hardware devices.
• Understanding of computer vision concepts and experience integrating CV models or technologies into Android applications.
• Deep expertise in performance optimization and profiling tools specific to Android.
• Hands‑on experience with monitoring and observability tools such as Datadog.
• Prior experience in the retail or e‑commerce industries, or on other consumer‑facing apps.
• Strong understanding of advanced Android concepts, including custom UI implementation and animations.

Instacart provides highly market‑competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work. This role is remote and the base pay range for a successful candidate is dependent on their permanent work location. Please review our Flex First remote work policy here.
Offers may vary based on many factors, such as candidate experience and skills required for the role. Additionally, this role is eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants. Please read more about our benefits offerings here.
For US based candidates, the base pay ranges for a successful candidate are listed below.
CA, NY, CT, NJ
$195,000–$217,000 USD
WA
$187,000–$208,000 USD
OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI
$180,000–$200,000 USD
All other states
$162,000–$180,000 USD

How to Apply

Interested in this position? Please submit your resume and cover letter through the application portal.