About the role

Senior Software Engineer leading high-impact platform initiatives for Instacart's Retailer Platform. Architecting extraction of CMD from Ruby monolith to Go service, enhancing content delivery.

Responsibilities

Lead the CMD service extraction: architect and drive the migration of our Content Management Domain from a Ruby monolith into a dedicated Go service using a strangler-pattern approach; design proto-first API contracts (e.g., v2/GetPlacements), implement concurrent visibility condition evaluation via goroutines, and establish formal SLOs (99.9% availability, under 30ms P90 placement fetch) for a system handling 7M daily requests across 15+ consumer surfaces.
Design composable extensibility: replace 125+ hardcoded placement format types with a single composable type built on React components and Liquid templates to eliminate weeks of full-stack engineering per new format and unlock enterprise retailer customization at scale.
Shape the AI-native content platform: expose Page Builder capabilities as MCP-compatible endpoints, enabling AI agents to create, preview, QA, and publish pages end-to-end; define how LLM-powered content creation, AI carousels, and agentic page management integrate with CMD.
Drive cross-team architecture: own the technical relationship with Shopping/URSA, Feeds, Growth, Loyalty, and Ads; lead API contract design, coordinate migration sequencing, and ensure CMD evolves as a reliable, well-documented platform that other teams can confidently build on.
Mentor and multiply the team: raise the engineering bar across Page Builder by mentoring engineers, establishing robust design patterns, and contributing to a culture where AI-assisted development is the default.

5+ years of professional software engineering experience.
Strong backend engineering skills with production experience in Go, Ruby, Java, or similar systems-level languages.
Proven track record designing and leading large-scale technical projects (e.g., service extractions, platform migrations, new system architectures consumed by multiple teams).
Experience building and operating high-throughput, low-latency backend services (handling millions of daily requests, sub-100ms latency targets, formal SLOs).
Experience with platform-focused API design (gRPC/Protobuf, GraphQL, or REST) consumed by downstream teams.
Demonstrated ability to drive technical decisions across team boundaries, including leading design reviews, negotiating API contracts, and coordinating migrations.
Experience mentoring engineers and elevating team-wide technical standards.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including authorship of technical design docs and presenting architecture to leadership and cross-functional partners.