[Remote] Senior Software Engineer, Data Governance & Foundations

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Instacart is transforming the grocery industry by building a team to enhance their data ecosystem. The Senior Software Engineer will be responsible for defining architecture roadmaps, owning platform initiatives, and collaborating with various teams to ensure the infrastructure meets evolving needs.ResponsibilitiesDefine and drive multi-year architecture roadmaps for large-scale data ingestion and processing infrastructure, setting technical direction that balances reliability, scalability, and costOwn end-to-end platform initiatives — from build vs. buy decisions and migration design through production rollout and risk management — across Kafka-based streaming and Postgres-based systemsPartner with vendors (Snowflake, Databricks, Confluent) on technical integration, contract evaluation, and TCO modeling to inform infrastructure investment decisionsCollaborate with various teams to embed governance and compliance controls (SOX, CPRA, GDPR) directly into platform architecture and data lifecycle managementOptimize infrastructure spend at scale: identify cost reduction opportunities across compute, storage, and pipeline efficiency; manage multi-million dollar infrastructure budgetsWrite compelling architecture documents, strategy memos, and proposals that drive alignment with engineering leadership and senior stakeholders across the organizationMentor engineers on the team, model strong engineering culture, and help grow a high-performing data infrastructure organizationCollaborate with Data Science, ML Platform, Ads Infrastructure, Finance Engineering, and Product teams to ensure the platform meets evolving needsSkills5+ years of software engineering focused on data infrastructure or distributed systems at scale, in a high-growth, data-intensive environmentExperience in modern data lakehouse architectures and open table formats — Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, Hudi — with strong understanding of compute/storage trade-offsHands-on experience with distributed query and compute systems (Trino, Spark, ClickHouse) including performance tuning and production reliability workProven depth in event-driven infrastructure: Kafka for high-throughput data ingestion and Flink (or equivalent) for stream processing at scaleTrack record owning and executing major platform transitions, including migration design, phased rollout, and risk management under production constraintsExperience building business cases for infrastructure investments: cost-benefit analysis, TCO modeling, and presenting recommendations to leadershipExceptional written technical communication — clear architecture docs, strategy memos, and cross-team proposals that drive decisions and alignmentStrong ownership and comfort operating in ambiguity; ability to drive large, multi-team initiatives from concept to production with organizational influenceFamiliarity with data governance and compliance frameworks (SOX, CPRA, GDPR) and experience designing governance controls into platform architectureExperience with FinOps and data platform cost optimization, including managing large infrastructure budgets and negotiating enterprise vendor contractsDeep SQL expertise and strong proficiency in Python or Scala for systems-level workExperience with orchestration (Apache Airflow) and transformation pipelines (dbt) in large-scale production environmentsBachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent practical experienceBenefitsInstacart is a Flex First teamOur 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.This role is eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants.Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work.Please read more about our benefits offerings here.Company OverviewInstacart is an online grocery platform that offers same-day delivery and pickup services for retailers and consumers. It was founded in 2012, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, with a workforce of 1001-5000 employees. Its website is https://www.instacart.com.Company H1B SponsorshipInstacart has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships, with 23 in 2026, 152 in 2025, 173 in 2024, 109 in 2023, 159 in 2022, 170 in 2021, 59 in 2020. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role.