Senior Software Engineer, Marketing Platform Tooling

Overview

The Marketing Platform Tooling team builds and maintains the core backend systems that power all of Instacart's marketing capabilities. At the center of this work are two production-scale platforms: the Targeting Platform (TaaS), which manages roughly 46,000 segment definitions to reach the right customers with the right content at the right time, and the CRM Messaging Service (CRMS), which sends approximately 8 million messages per day across Instacart and white-label retailers. Together, these systems form the foundation for how Instacart drives growth, engagement, and retention at scale.

We are now building the Unified Marketing Backend (UMB) — a shared, composable foundation designed to serve as the backbone for the entire marketing platform space. This is greenfield infrastructure work with direct visibility into Instacart's most critical company priorities, including Enterprise expansion, Lifecycle marketing, and platform Efficiency and Quality.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join this team in Toronto as a dedicated backend owner. This is a net new role on a team of approximately 10 engineers, and you'll be stepping into a high-ownership position with real scope, real urgency, and a roadmap that ladders directly into business outcomes. If you're energized by building sustainable platforms at scale, running workstreams end-to-end, and making a measurable difference on systems other teams depend on, this is the role for you.

About the Job

• Architect, build, and maintain high-quality backend systems for the Targeting Platform (TaaS) and CRM Messaging Service (CRMS), taking core workstreams from idea to production with a high degree of independence — this includes the CC API V3 to V4 migration, CRM white-label scale-out to 80+ retailers, Project Lotus Phase 2, and self-serve ad hoc tooling.
• Play a central role in designing and building the Unified Marketing Backend (UMB), a composable platform that will serve as the shared foundation for all of Instacart's marketing infrastructure and on which other teams will build.
• Own critical platform capabilities end-to-end, including real-time targeting, campaign health and observability, API and eventing integrations, and CRM white-label expansion — work that is high visibility both internally and with external retailer partners like Sprouts, PFG, and Metro.
• Collaborate extensively across backend and full-stack engineering, Product, Design, and adjacent platform teams (including MET/Martech, Treatment Serving, Retailer Storefront/Enterprise, and Professional Services) as well as external vendors such as Braze and CDP tooling — driving alignment and delivering effective cross-functional outcomes.
• Step into a fast-moving environment where you'll be expected to balance ongoing platform stability work with a growing H2 roadmap, help reduce execution risk on two of Instacart's most critical systems, and contribute to building a sustainable on-call rotation as the team scales.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend software development experience with a proven track record of delivering production systems at scale
• Proficiency in Ruby or Python; experience with Go is a plus given its use in TaaS services
• Hands-on experience with Rails or Pandas in a production environment
• Experience designing and building scalable, reliable distributed systems, including working with relational and NoSQL databases (e.g., Postgres, DynamoDB, Snowflake) and data pipelines
• Demonstrated ability to write rigorous unit tests and work through complex technical problems independently
• Strong communication skills with experience collaborating across engineering, product, and cross-functional teams
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building or contributing to marketing technology platforms, including targeting, CRM, messaging infrastructure, or campaign tooling
• Familiarity with eventing systems, real-time data processing, or composable platform architecture
• Experience working with external platform vendors or integrating third-party APIs at scale
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced environment with a growing roadmap, shifting priorities, and high ownership expectations — and a track record of delivering reliably in that kind of context

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