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Senior Applied Scientist II, Ads Optimization

Instacart· Machine Learning
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Hybrid (Remote)$201k - $253.5k + equityFull-timePosted 6mo ago

About the role

Senior-level scientist role responsible for leading the algorithmic direction of real-time bidding, budgeting, and targeting systems for Instacart's ads business. Focused on control theory, constrained optimization, and auction economics, translating theory into production code to optimize advertiser value while balancing user experience and platform revenue.

Responsibilities

  • Design and evolve real-time bid optimization systems that translate advertiser goals (target ROAS, budget constraints) into optimal auction bids under uncertainty.
  • Build intelligent budget pacing algorithms that distribute spend across time and auction opportunities.
  • Develop the analytical frameworks that connect bidding, pacing, and budgeting into a coherent optimization objective.
  • Shape auction mechanics including reserve pricing, multi-slot allocation, and bid-to-price mapping. Consider mechanism design tradeoffs between advertiser outcomes, platform revenue, and marketplace efficiency.
  • Own the full research-to-production loop: diagnose system behavior from large-scale data, formulate hypotheses, design experiments, ship production code, and measure impact. Write technical strategy documents that set the algorithmic direction for the team.

Qualifications

  • Graduate degree (Masters or PhD) in operations research, applied mathematics, control systems, computational economics, or a related quantitative field.
  • 8+ years of experience building and deploying optimization or control systems in production environments (not just research prototypes).
  • Strong foundation in at least two of: feedback control theory (PID, MPC), convex and stochastic optimization, auction theory and mechanism design, dynamic programming.
  • Proficiency in one of the following languages: Go, Java, C++ for production systems and Python for data analysis and offline pipelines.
  • Demonstrated ability to translate mathematical formulations into production code that runs at scale (millions of decisions per day, sub-100ms latency constraints).

Skills

Required:Real-time bid optimizationBudget pacing algorithmsConstrained optimizationProduction-grade software
Nice to have:Auction theory / mechanism designExperiment design / causal inference

Benefits

  • Highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where employees work.
  • New hire equity grant and annual refresh grants.
  • Access to flex-first remote work policy with location-based base pay ranges.
Last updated Jul 30, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Instacart

Marketplace for grocery delivery and pickup

Instacart is the North American leader in online grocery and one of the fastest-growing companies in e-commerce. Instacart’s same-day delivery and pickup services bring fresh groceries and everyday essentials to busy people and families across the U.S. and Canada in as fast as an hour. Since its founding in 2012, Instacart has become an essential service for millions of families, while also serving as an immediate, flexible earnings opportunity for hundreds of thousands of shoppers across North America. The company partners with more than 350 retailers and delivers from more than 25,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Today, Instacart is accessible to more than 85% of households in the U.S. and more than 70% of households in Canada.

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