Forward Deployed Engineer
About the role
Embed with enterprise retail customers and partners to understand their technical environments, data systems, and business workflows.
Design, build, and deploy AI and agentic solutions tailored to each customer's specific infrastructure and needs, across Instacart's full platform suite.
Extend, adapt, and integrate Instacart's core AI capabilities to fit customer ecosystems, even when those systems are undocumented or non-standard.
Maintain a close working relationship with R&D: participate in product reviews, flag platform gaps encountered in the field, and propose concrete changes that would make the platform work better for enterprise customers.
Collaborate closely with the AI Solutions Architect to translate domain requirements and architecture into working software.
Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customers during implementation engagements.
Responsibilities
- Embed with enterprise retail customers and partners to understand their technical environments, data systems, and business workflows.
- Design, build, and deploy AI and agentic solutions tailored to each customer's specific infrastructure and needs, across Instacart's full platform suite.
- Extend, adapt, and integrate Instacart's core AI capabilities to fit customer ecosystems, even when those systems are undocumented or non-standard.
- Maintain a close working relationship with R&D: participate in product reviews, flag platform gaps encountered in the field, and propose concrete changes that would make the platform work better for enterprise customers.
- Collaborate closely with the AI Solutions Architect to translate domain requirements and architecture into working software.
- Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customers during implementation engagements.
Requirements
- 5+ years of software engineering experience with a demonstrated ability to write and ship production-quality code.
- Hands-on experience building with LLM APIs, function calling, tool use, agent frameworks, or RAG pipelines—you have shipped something agentic that real users depended on.
- Proficiency in Python or another scripting/backend language commonly used in data-intensive environments.
- Prior experience integrating with messy, heterogeneous enterprise data environments — undocumented APIs, schema mismatches, auth complexity, and legacy systems that do not behave the way the docs claim.
- Direct experience with external enterprise customers or technical stakeholders in a consulting or customer-facing capacity — earning trust in the room matters as much as writing code.
- Strong working knowledge of retail and e-commerce system fundamentals.
- Strong communication skills — able to translate field learnings and technical findings into actionable input for R&D and product teams.
- Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where the process is not fully defined.
Qualifications
- Minimum qualifications: 5+ years of software engineering experience with a demonstrated ability to write and ship production-quality code.
- Preferred qualifications: Prior work in a forward deployed, embedded engineering, or professional services capacity; Background at a startup or early-stage company where you wore multiple hats; Experience in enterprise software implementation, systems integration, or solutions engineering; Exposure to retail tech, e-commerce, or supply chain systems.
Skills
- Software Engineering
- LLM APIs
- Function Calling
- Tool Use
- Agent Frameworks
- RAG Pipelines
- Python or Scripting/Backend Language
- Data Integration
- Enterprise Data Environments
- Customer Relationship Management
- Communication Skills
- Technical Problem Solving
- Fast-Moving Environments
Benefits
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. 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. For US based candidates, the base pay ranges for a successful candidate are listed below.
Pay
CA, NY, CT, NJ $203,000—$214,000 USD
WA $194,000—$205,000 USD
OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI $185,000—$195,500 USD
All other states $169,000—$178,500 USD
Schedule
This role is remote.