Staff Software Engineer, Orders Platform

ABOUT THE ROLE The Staff Software Engineer, Orders Platform role at Instacart is a high-impact position that requires technical expertise, leadership skills, and a passion for building scalable and reliable systems. As a Staff Software Engineer, you will lead foundational platform initiatives on the Orders Platform team, defining and driving the architectural strategy for systems that support hundreds of millions of transactions each year. WHAT YOU'LL DO In this role, you will be responsible for leading multi-team initiatives that improve the reliability, scalability, and correctness of the Orders platform. This includes defining and driving the technical strategy for the order lifecycle, architecting and evolving event-driven workflows, and partnering with cross-functional teams to deliver durable platform capabilities. You will also be responsible for modernizing and extending the platform, designing platform capabilities that support agentic commerce, and raising the technical bar through design reviews, coaching engineers, and contributing hands-on to critical code paths. WHAT YOU'LL NEED To be successful in this role, you will need to have 10+ years of experience designing, developing, and operating large-scale backend or platform systems in production environments. You will also need to have a strong foundation in distributed systems, service-oriented architectures, and high-volume APIs, including hands-on experience with event-driven patterns and idempotent workflows. Proficiency in one or more backend programming languages such as Go, Java, or Python is also required, as well as production experience with relational and NoSQL data stores. WHY REMOTE Instacart is a Flex First team, which means that you will have the flexibility to choose where you do your best work, whether it's from home, an office, or your favorite coffee shop. You will be expected to stay connected and build community through regular in-person events, but you will have the autonomy to work in a way that suits your needs and preferences. BENEFITS Instacart offers a comprehensive benefits package, including a competitive salary, flexible schedule, and opportunities for professional growth and development. You will also have access to a range of benefits, including health insurance, parental leave, and education stipend.