---
title: 'Staff Software Engineer,  Data Governance & Foundations at Instacart'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-software-engineer-data-governance-foundations-instacart-united-states-pdne2ggabs8d'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Staff Software Engineer,  Data Governance & Foundations at Instacart

- **Company:** Instacart
- **Location:** United States
- **Compensation:** $221k–$280k
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-04-03
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://instacart.careers/job/?gh_jid=7778693

## 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.](https://www.instacart.careers/flex-first)

## Overview

Instacarts Data Infrastructure organization builds and operates the systems that power our company’s data ecosystem, including a modern open data lakehouse on Apache Iceberg, a multi-engine compute platform for stream and analytical workloads, and self-serve tooling that helps Product, Data Science, ML, Ads, Finance, and engineering teams move fast with data.

We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure to join our Data Governance and Foundations Team. In this role, you’ll serve as a senior technical leader owning the architecture and delivery of our open lakehouse foundation, governance and access patterns, and multi-engine compute strategy—balancing today’s reliability with the next three to five years of scale, maturity, and cost efficiency.

You’ll collaborate closely with engineering leadership and stakeholders across Data Science, ML Platform, Ads Infrastructure, Finance Engineering, Product Engineering, and Security. You’ll operate with a high degree of ownership in a fast-paced environment where architectural decisions have real technical and financial consequences. If you thrive on complex, high-scale challenges and roll-up-your-sleeves execution, this is a chance to shape the backbone of Instacart’s data platform.

Our stack includes technologies such as Apache Iceberg, Apache Flink, Trino, ClickHouse, Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, Snowflake, Databricks, Confluent, Airflow, dbt, Delta Lake, Scala, Python, Postgres, and AWS. You’ll join a focused team of 7 engineers that values pragmatism, clarity, and impact.

## About the Job

- Translate Instacart’s data strategy (e.g., monetization, federated access, real-time) into an actionable multi-year architecture roadmap; align with leadership while evolving the platform for scale, maturity, and cost efficiency.
- Own the open lakehouse foundation: define and deliver unified table formats, storage governance, and a multi-engine compute portfolio (interactive, batch, streaming) that enables portability and prevents lock-in.
- Drive real-time and streaming infrastructure for critical use cases (Ads, Fraud, ML): set deployment patterns, SLAs, and operational practices that balance performance, availability, and spend.
- Pioneer AI-native data infrastructure engineering by applying LLM/AI tools to the platform lifecycle—accelerating development, automation, observability, and cost optimization—and partnering to embed AI-powered capabilities into the platform.
- Elevate engineering excellence: lead architecture reviews, mentor senior/staff engineers, influence hiring, and clearly communicate complex trade-offs to both technical and executive audiences to ensure cross-org alignment.

## About You

## Minimum Qualifications

- 10+ years of software engineering experience building and operating data infrastructure or distributed systems at production scale.
- Hands-on expertise with modern data lakehouse architectures and open table formats (e.g., Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hudi) and with distributed query/compute engines (e.g., Trino, Spark, ClickHouse), including performance tuning and production reliability.
- Experience with event-driven and streaming infrastructure (e.g., Kafka, Flink) for real-time pipelines and serving systems.
- Proven ownership of major platform transitions or migrations (build vs. buy, migration design, risk management) delivered to production.
- Ability to build cost/benefit and TCO models for infrastructure investments and to drive alignment via clear architecture docs and strategy memos across multiple teams and leadership levels.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience designing platform-level governance controls and familiarity with compliance frameworks (e.g., SOX, CPRA, GDPR).
- FinOps experience optimizing data platform spend, including managing multi-million dollar infrastructure budgets and negotiating vendor contracts.
- Deep SQL proficiency and strong skills in Python or Scala for systems-level development.
- Experience with orchestration (e.g., Apache Airflow) and data transformation pipelines (e.g., dbt) in large-scale production environments.
- Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

#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](https://instacart.careers/flex-first/).

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](https://instacart.careers/taste-of-instacart/).

For US based candidates, the base pay ranges for a successful candidate are listed below.

CA, NY, CT, NJ $265,000—$279,500 USD

WA $254,000—$268,000 USD

OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI $243,000—$256,500 USD

All other states $221,000—$233,000 USD

## About Instacart

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Instacart is the leading online grocery platform in North America, offering same-day delivery and pickup services from over 700 retail partners.
- **Entity Type**: Private (venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2012
- **Founders**: Max Mullen (co-founder) [instacart.careers](https://www.instacart.careers/flex-first)

## Core Business
- Primary industries: Online grocery delivery, internet & web services
- Target customers: B2C consumers; also B2B partnerships with retailers and brands
- Mission: “Our mission is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together.” [glassdoor.com](https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Instacart-EI_IE714486.11,20.htm)

## Products & Services
- **Instacart Platform**: Same-day delivery and pickup from grocery stores, superstores, and local shops. Customers order via mobile app or website.
- **Instacart+**: Premium membership offering reduced delivery fees, lower service fees, and special perks.
- **Retail Partnerships**: Instacart powers e‑commerce and fulfillment for over 700 retailers across the U.S. and Canada.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company).
- **Key Metric**: Annual revenue not disclosed; employee count between 1,001 and 5,000 per Glassdoor. [glassdoor.com](https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Instacart-EI_IE714486.11,20.htm)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not listed in provided sources – state “Not publicly available” per search results.
- **Growth Signals**: 47% of job seekers rate their interview experience positively; 59% of employees would recommend the company. [glassdoor.com](https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Instacart-EI_IE714486.11,20.htm) The company highlights a “high-impact environment” where you can “do in two years what might take five at another company.” [instacart.careers](https://www.instacart.careers/taste-of-instacart)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Network effects**: Largest online grocery platform in North America with deep integrations across major retailers.
- **Scale & brand recognition**: Highly trusted name in grocery delivery, with a large base of both consumers and shoppers.
- **Flex First model**: A remote-friendly culture that allows hiring top talent across the U.S. and Canada, reducing geographic constraints.

## Strategic Focus
- **Flex First & distributed work**: Empowering employees to work from home or offices, with periodic “Team Jams” for in‑person collaboration. [instacart.careers](https://www.instacart.careers/flex-first)
- **Continued platform growth**: Expanding retailer partnerships and improving the shopping experience for customers, shoppers, and brands.
- **Employee experience**: Investing in learning & development, wellness, and community impact programs to attract and retain talent.

## Why Work Here
- **Flex First philosophy**: Employees can work remotely from anywhere in the U.S. (excluding Alaska and territories) or Canada (Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia) with no mandatory return-to-office date. Offices remain open for optional use. [instacart.careers](https://www.instacart.careers/flex-first)
- **Comprehensive benefits** (from the “Taste of Instacart” page): [instacart.careers](https://www.instacart.careers/taste-of-instacart)
  - Flexible time off and “Four Year Fill‑Up” (four consecutive weeks of leave around the 4‑year mark)
  - Family‑building benefits (fertility, adoption, surrogacy support)
  - Learning & development programs with an annual allowance
  - 401(k) matching in the U.S. / RRSP in Canada, student loan assistance, financial planning
  - Work‑from‑home stipend and internet reimbursement
  - Monthly “Treat Yourself” stipend for wellness or personal care
  - Mental and physical wellness programs, medical/dental/vision coverage
  - Free Instacart+ membership
  - Community volunteer programs (Instacart Serves, donation matching, “Carrot Credits”)
- **Culture**: 59% of employees on Glassdoor would recommend the company; Glassdoor ratings show 3.5★ overall, with 3.3★ for culture & values and 3.6★ for career opportunities. [glassdoor.com](https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Instacart-EI_IE714486.11,20.htm) The company describes itself as a place where you can “shape the career that nourishes you.”

## Sources
1. [Glassdoor – Instacart Overview](https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Instacart-EI_IE714486.11,20.htm)
2. [Instacart Careers – Home](https://www.instacart.careers/)
3. [Instacart Careers – Flex First](https://www.instacart.careers/flex-first)
4. [Instacart Careers – Taste of Instacart](https://www.instacart.careers/taste-of-instacart)

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