---
title: 'Senior Software Engineer at Instawork'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-instawork-san-francisco-california-95b653gkeh4b'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Senior Software Engineer at Instawork

- **Company:** Instawork
- **Location:** San Francisco California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-04-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/instawork/jobs/4674046006

## Job description

Instawork is on a mission to create meaningful economic opportunities for skilled hourly professionals in communities around the globe. Our AI-powered labor marketplace helps local businesses scale, and enables global technology companies to push the frontiers of robotics and AI. Backed by world-class investors like Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator, and others, we’re looking for exceptional talent to reimagine the way the world works.

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to contribute to the development of next-generation products as a key team member driving impactful features from concept to production. You will collaborate across engineering, product, and design to translate business requirements into clear, scalable technical solutions, leveraging modern methodologies—including AI where it aligns with product scope—to deliver high-quality products and efficient software workflows.

You are someone who thrives in ambiguous problem spaces, has strong product instincts, and can translate customer needs into technical solutions that drive business outcomes.

Who You Are:

- 5+ years of professional experience with a focus on high-growth product environments
- Strong coding and architectural proficiency—you prioritize moving quickly down the right path to ship reliable code daily
- Full-stack proficiency—comfortable across backend services, APIs, and modern frontends (React, Angular, or Vue.js)
- Strong product instincts—you translate customer needs into technical solutions that drive business outcomes
- AI-First mindset—expertly using AI coding tools to accelerate delivery without compromising architectural integrity
- Agile execution—you understand the lifecycle of a feature from local branch to production monitoring

## Nice to Have

- Fluency in our core stack (Django, Python, React, and React Native)—accelerates time-to-impact and onboarding
- Experience with advanced deployment patterns—leveraging feature flags, config-driven behavior, and progressive rollouts
- Exposure to LLM-based systems—includes prompt engineering, tool-call architectures, or agent workflows
- Domain experience in two-sided marketplace or recruitment platforms

What You'll Do:

- Product Delivery – Collaborate with PMs and designers to translate customer needs into technical solutions and shape product requirements.
- Write Quality Code – Ship code that follows engineering best practices (DRY, maintainable) and is production-safe after code review.
- Collaborate Cross-Functionally – Work closely with Product, Design, and Data partners to ensure project alignment from concept through deployment.
- Drive Personal Growth – Proactively seek opportunities to sharpen skills through code reviews and architectural deep-dives with senior engineers.
- Own Features End-to-End – Drive feature development from coding through deployment, monitoring, QA, and iteration based on user feedback.
- Advocate for Best Practices – Champion engineering excellence and contribute to continuous improvement in developer tooling and experience.
- Contribute Technical Input – Provide input on team technical design, balancing short-term delivery with long-term scalable solutions.
- Practice Clear Communication – Communicate effectively through clear PR descriptions and proactively surfacing blockers before they become critical problems.

For CA-based Applicants:

- The base salary for this position is $170,000 - $200,000.
- This position is eligible for equity in the form of stock options
- This position is eligible for Instawork benefits, including:
- A variety of medical, dental, and vision plans with coverage beginning on the date of hire
- Flexible paid time off
- At least 8 paid company holidays annually
- Phone stipend
- Commuter stipend
- Supplemental pay on qualified leaves
- Employee health savings accounts (HSA) contribution
- Flexible spending plans
- 401K plan
- Perkspot - discount program through Lumity

A variety of factors are considered when determining someone’s compensation including a candidate’s professional background, experience, and location.  Final offer amounts may vary from the amounts listed above.

#LI-Onsite

## Our Values

- Empathy, Trust & Candor We put ourselves in the shoes of our colleagues and customers and don’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations, instead building trust through honest and direct feedback.

- Bias for Action We practice high-velocity decision-making, clear-eyed that we often operate with incomplete information. Growing quickly means it’s OK to be wrong, so long as we learn from our mistakes and course correct!

- Always Be Learning We’re a curious bunch, and with AI transforming our workplace we encourage everyone to learn from each other, compounding our knowledge and experience to help us change an entire industry.

- Act Like an Owner We work long, hard, and smart, building products that delight our users and drive growth. Your ability to impact Instawork is limited only by your courage and conviction, not your job description.

## About Instawork

Founded in 2015, [Instawork](https://www.instawork.com) is the nation’s leading online labor marketplace for food services, hospitality, light industry, and logistics, connecting more than 7M skilled workers with local restaurants, hotels, warehouses, stadiums, and more. Our AI-powered platform serves thousands of businesses across more than 50 major markets in the United States and Canada. We're not just helping fill shifts, we're supporting local economies—and we're just getting started!

Instawork has been featured by CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press. Forbes included us on their Next Billion Dollar Startups list; RetailTech Breakthrough named us Workforce Hiring Solution of the Year for 2025; and Inc. 5000 recognized us as one of the country's top 10% fastest-growing companies two years in a row. But what matters most is our impact. We're solving real problems for real people, and we’re doing it at scale.

Join our team to help us build something that matters! We’re looking for superstars who want to help us shape the future of work. With hubs in San Francisco, Bangalore, and Chicago, city offices in New York, Phoenix, and Singapore, we're back to working together in-person five days a week because we believe the best ideas happen when great people collaborate face-to-face. We also value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.

Ready to make an impact? Learn more at [www.instawork.com/about](http://www.instawork.com/about).

[Personnel Privacy Policy](https://info.instawork.com/legal/california-personnel-privacy-policy)

## About Instawork

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Instawork is a leading AI-powered labor marketplace that connects businesses with vetted, skilled hourly workers for shifts, temp-to-hire, and full-time roles across North America, and is expanding into humanoid robotics training.
- **Entity Type**: Private (pre-IPO; Series D stage)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Sumir Meghani (CEO), Deep Abhani (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Labor marketplace, flexible staffing, temporary staffing, AI-powered workforce management, robotics workforce training
- **Target customers**: B2B (businesses in hospitality, warehouse/logistics, manufacturing, retail, and light industrial sectors); also serves B2C (hourly workers seeking flexible shifts)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "To create economic opportunities for local businesses and hourly workers across the globe" — empowering everyone to thrive in their careers.

## Products & Services
- **Instawork Platform (Core Marketplace)**: An AI-powered mobile app and web platform where businesses post shifts and workers browse and book them. Features background checks, skills verification, ratings, and automated payroll, taxes, and insurance. Fills 90% of jobs within 24 hours.
- **Instawork Robotics**: A new division that pays employees to help train humanoid robots, expanding Instawork’s labor marketplace into AI and robotics data generation and validation. Includes roles like Founding Machine Learning Lead, Field Engineering Technician, and Robotics AI Campus Lead.
- **Top Pro Program**: Rewards high-performing workers with access to more shifts and cash bonuses.
- **'Captains' Program**: Sends vetted on-site shift leaders to manage large groups of workers for businesses.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (pre-IPO private company); last known Series D valuation was not publicly reported.
- **Key Metric**: Over 7 million hourly workers in its network (source: [instawork.com/about](https://www.instawork.com/about)); over 40 markets across North America (expanding to 60+ cities); 2+ billion data signals optimizing worker/business connections; 90% of jobs filled within 24 hours.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator (source: [Greenhouse jobs page](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/instawork)).
- **Growth Signals**: Launch of a dedicated Robotics division (2025-2026); active hiring for robotics, AI, and enterprise sales roles across multiple US and international hubs (San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, Bengaluru, Vancouver, Monterrey, Austin, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chapel Hill).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Network effects**: The largest platform connecting businesses to hourly workers (7M+ workers) creates a deep, defensible moat — more workers attract more businesses, and vice versa.
- **AI & data moat**: Billions of proprietary data signals (worker performance, fit, reliability) power a machine-learning engine that optimizes worker matching, increasing return rates and reducing churn.
- **Full-stack trust & safety**: Background checks, skills verification, worker ratings, on-shift insurance, and a dedicated Trust & Safety team lower risk for businesses.
- **50-state+ coverage**: Presence in 60+ metro areas across the US and Canada allows rapid scaling for multi-location enterprise clients.
- **New robotics pivot**: Leveraging its massive workforce to train humanoid robots creates a unique competitive position at the intersection of labor and AI infrastructure.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the core marketplace**: Expanding into new geographies (60+ cities) and verticals (e.g., light industrial, retail).
- **Enterprise growth**: Building out enterprise account management and strategic account teams for large clients in logistics, manufacturing, and retail.
- **Robotics & AI expansion**: Developing a new business line around training humanoid robots, positioning Instawork as a key partner for robotics companies needing real-world data and validation.
- **Product innovation**: Using AI to improve worker fit, reliability, and return rates; investing in automation and operational efficiency.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven impact**: "Your work at Instawork directly benefits thousands of businesses and millions of workers." The company emphasizes creating economic opportunities.
- **Rapid growth and strong investors**: Pre-IPO company backed by top-tier VCs (Benchmark, Spark, Greylock, Y Combinator) — offers potential for career growth and equity upside.
- **Rewarding problems**: Tackle challenging, high-velocity problems in AI, robotics, marketplace dynamics, and trust & safety.
- **Culture values** (from careers page): Bias for Action, Act Like an Owner, Always Be Learning, Empathy/Trust/Candor.
- **Benefits**: Medical/Dental/Vision insurance, 401K/PF contribution, FSA & Commuter Benefits, Flexible Time Off, Parental & Family Leave, Office & Phone Plan Reimbursement, Employee Referral Bonus, Catered Lunches, Pet Friendly Offices, Mental Health Benefits, Team Offsites.
- **Work model**: Hybrid / in-office hub locations in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh, and Bengaluru; also remote-friendly for certain roles.

## Sources
1. [Instawork Careers Page](https://www.instawork.com/careers)
2. [Instawork Greenhouse Jobs Board](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/instawork)
3. [Instawork About Page](https://www.instawork.com/about)
4. [Instawork Homepage](https://www.instawork.com/)
5. [Instawork How It Works](https://www.instawork.com/how-it-works)

## Other roles at Instawork

- [Enterprise Account Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-account-manager-instawork-dallas-texas-x3pbrmw6nrt0) — Dallas Texas, United States / Houston Texas, United States
- [Head of Operations - Instawork Robotics Labs](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-operations-instawork-robotics-labs-instawork-bengaluru-5193f95fz9sd) — Bengaluru, India
- [Associate Director - Operations - Instawork Robotics Labs](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-director-operations-instawork-robotics-labs-instawork-bengaluru-9dyj0ehgt1h6) — Bengaluru, India
- [Head of Quality Assurance - Instawork Robotics Labs](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-quality-assurance-instawork-robotics-labs-instawork-bengaluru-5vjp58hdrz00) — Bengaluru, India
- [Growth Marketing Manager, Discoverability](https://feeny.ai/job/growth-marketing-manager-discoverability-instawork-san-francisco-california-x5ry5wbztpe3) — San Francisco California, United States
- [Senior Mechanical Engineer - Robotics Hardware](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-mechanical-engineer-robotics-hardware-instawork-bengaluru-1y8fycnnt400) — Bengaluru, India
- [GTM Recruiting Consultant](https://feeny.ai/job/gtm-recruiting-consultant-instawork-chicago-illinois-b0w8ee5wm48g) — Chicago Illinois, United States / San Francisco California, United States
- [Hardware Intern — Robotics & AI](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-intern-robotics-ai-instawork-bengaluru-p6h1zftbsdec) — Bengaluru, India
- [Strategic Account Executive - Light Industrial](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-account-executive-light-industrial-instawork-chicago-illinois-zdtaa0d3s8f3) — Chicago Illinois, United States / New York New York, United States / San Francisco California, United States
- [Regional Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/regional-sales-manager-instawork-chicago-illinois-6re4nvdbgrvr) — Chicago Illinois, United States / San Francisco California, United States