Senior Software Engineer, Caper AI

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.

Senior Software Engineer, Caper AI

Job #CAPS40

Overview

Maplebear Inc. D/B/A Instacart in San Francisco, CA seeks Senior Software Engineer, Caper AI (Multiple Openings). Employee may be stationed anywhere in the continental U.S., but will report to headquarters in San Francisco, CA.

About the Job

Responsible for designing, building, and implementing software solutions that assist retailers in managing connected store technologies at scale while streamlining internal processes to achieve operational efficiency. 

Duties include: 

• Developing high-quality web applications and advanced AI systems integrating Large Language Models (LLMs), Computer Vision, and multimodal technologies to address complex business challenges relating to loss prevention, verification, and catalog management; 
• Architecting data pipelines and reverse ETL systems that combine on-cart computer vision, catalog and POS data, real-time location data, and inventory intelligence signals to automatically resolve item discrepancies; 
• Standardizing API contracts for complex retail functions including pricing, coupons, and loyalty systems across disparate retailer systems to accelerate new feature integrations; 
• Leading architectural design of backend systems and distributed infrastructure to process high volumes of data serving millions of customers and enhance platform performance; 
• Building frameworks and internal portals for automated integration testing, unified logging, and query-based debugging to support the rapid and continuous deployment integration of new retailers; 
• Leading cross-functional initiatives to unify development approaches and deliver impactful results for customer shopping experiences; 
• Other duties as assigned.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (or foreign equivalent).
• 5 years of experience in the job offered or related. 
• 5 years of experience working with Java, Ruby, Kotlin, or similar backend programming languages
• 5 years of experience working with TypeScript, React, Next.js or frontend programming languages
• 5 years of experience working with advanced AI systems, such as LLMs, Computer Vision, and multimodal technologies, to address complex business challenges
• 5 years of experience designing and implementing resilient backend systems and distributed infrastructure leveraging caching, retry logic, and asynchronous workflows using workflow orchestration platforms such as Temporal
• 5 years of experience working with backend APIs
• 5 years of experience architecting data pipelines and ETL systems for real-time data processing
• 5 years of experience working with monitoring and observability tools.