Senior Software Engineer, Digital Twin Platform

Instacart; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 166,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Instacart is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for the Digital Twin Platform, shaping systems that track products on shelves in real-time. You will build end-to-end data pipelines, integrate ML outputs, and scale platforms across partners and stores.

You will collaborate with ML and CV engineers, data scientists, and product teams to move research into production, ownership culture, and deliver impact for shoppers and retailers nationwide.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in a technical field.
• 5+ years of software engineering in large-scale production systems.
• Proficiency in Python, Java, Scala, or Go and SQL.
• Experience with distributed data pipelines and cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate real-time platforms for product shelf understanding.
• Ingest, process, and serve data from partner sources and ML outputs.
• Collaborate with ML, CV, product, and data science teams to productionize models.
• Tackle large-scale, ambiguous challenges across mapping, inventory, logistics, CV.
• Promote ownership and continuous improvement with transparency.

Skills

Backend programming

SQL

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Production software

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

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

The Digital Twin Platform team at Instacart is responsible for understanding exactly what is on store shelves at all times. Inventory estimates power some of the most important product experiences at Instacart, from search and advertising to logistics and fulfillment. We own the end-to-end data supply chain — from ingestion and integration of partner data sources to collecting inventory observations, to model development, serving, and integrations across our products.

We are looking for a highly motivated Senior Software Engineer to join our team. You will be instrumental in building our next generation platforms for understanding where products are in a store — think: platforms that provide the precision and depth of a smart warehouse but scaled to every local store. In close collaboration with machine learning engineers, computer vision engineers, product teams, and data scientists, you will enable sophisticated models and data collection platforms to scale while driving new product innovation.

This is a chance to roll up your sleeves with a team that goes far together, solves creatively, and grows the pie by making the entire grocery ecosystem more efficient. We move quickly, work through ambiguity, and focus on delivering real impact for our customers, shoppers, retailers, and the broader business.

You can read more about some of the things our team is doing here: democratizing AI for grocers of all sizes and advancing real-time shelf intelligence.

About the Job

• Design, build, and operate the platforms and services that power a real-time understanding of products on store shelves across our network.
• Develop data ingestion, processing, and serving systems that combine partner data, inventory observations, and machine learning outputs into a reliable, scalable digital twin.
• Collaborate closely with machine learning engineers, computer vision engineers, product teams, and data scientists to move models and data pipelines from research to production.
• Take on ambiguous, large-scale challenges across mapping, inventory, logistics, and computer vision, balancing fast delivery with long-term architectural quality.
• Contribute to a culture of ownership and continuous improvement, where we serve our users generously, put ideas on the table with transparency, and go far together as a team.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of software engineering experience designing, building, and operating large-scale production systems.
• Strong proficiency in at least one backend programming language such as Python, Java, Scala, or Go, and experience with SQL.
• Experience with distributed systems, data pipelines, and cloud infrastructure such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Track record of shipping production software with a focus on reliability, testing, observability, and maintainability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with machine learning infrastructure, computer vision, image-based data pipelines, or annotation platforms.
• Experience with real-time, streaming, or geospatial services and systems in production.
• Experience building data-intensive products in e-commerce, retail, logistics, or grocery.
• Experience with edge devices, IoT, or hardware-software integration.
• Familiarity with data processing frameworks such as Spark, Kafka, or Airflow.

#LI-Remote

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

$199,000 — $210,000 USD

WA

$191,000 — $201,000 USD

OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI

$183,000 — $193,000 USD

All other states

$166,000 — $175,000 USD