Instacart

Principal Product Manager, AI

Instacart$250K — $264K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Retail & Consumer Goods
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 6+ years of product management experience in B2B or enterprise software
  • 3+ years delivering AI/ML products from concept to GA
  • Proven record of shipping at least 2 AI/ML products with measurable financial outcomes
  • Hands-on data proficiency, capable of analyzing large datasets
  • Experience leading cross-functional teams to launch and scale products
  • Strong skills in building ROI models and presenting business cases to executives
  • Exceptional communication skills for technical and commercial audiences

Responsibilities

  • Own product vision and roadmap for AI solutions targeting out-of-stocks and fulfillment
  • Write clear problem statements and define success metrics based on customer outcomes
  • Collaborate with engineering and data science to manage product backlogs and ensure model performance
  • Lead customer discovery and design go-to-market strategies with sales and marketing
  • Develop and report on business case metrics like ROI and margin recovery
  • Ensure data integrity by assessing data quality and implementing feedback loops
  • Operate cross-functionally to take products from concept to market

Benefits

  • Remote work flexibility
  • Market-competitive compensation
  • Eligibility for equity grants
  • Access to comprehensive benefits offerings
  • Opportunities for professional development
Full Job Description
Overview

Instacart's AI team is building B2B agentic AI products that help retailers and CPGs recover margin by tackling out-of-stock, shrink and waste, and fulfillment utilization. We aim to translate cutting-edge AI into practical, trustworthy solutions that move key financial levers for our customers.

As a Product Manager, AI, you will own the vision, roadmap, and go-to-market for new agentic AI capabilities from 0 to 1. You'll work backwards from customer outcomes - not technology trends - to define clear product requirements, partner closely with engineering and data science to ship value quickly, and collaborate with sales and marketing to craft a commercial motion that proves impact and scales revenue.

You'll join a small, focused team (alongside 2 PMs and 7 engineers to start) with the mandate and resources to move fast. If you thrive in ambiguity, love turning complex data and workflows into simple, outcome-driven products, and want to shape how AI transforms retail operations, this role is for you.
About the Job
  • Own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for agentic AI solutions that reduce out-of-stocks, shrink and waste, and improve fulfillment utilization for retailers and CPGs.
  • Work backwards from customer outcomes to write crisp problem statements, PRDs, and success metrics; prioritize ruthlessly to deliver v0, iterate to v1, and scale proven features.
  • Partner with engineering and data science to scope experiments, manage backlogs, define KPIs and evaluation frameworks, and ensure models and agents are reliable, safe, and observable.
  • Lead discovery with customers; design pilots and proof points; collaborate with sales and marketing on go-to-market, pricing and packaging, enablement, and case studies that drive revenue.
  • Own the business case: model unit economics and ROI, set financial targets for margin recovery/efficiency, and report performance to executives and external stakeholders.
  • Ensure data readiness and integrity by assessing data quality, telemetry, integrations, and feedback loops; implement human-in-the-loop and policy guardrails where appropriate.
  • Operate cross-functionally with data engineering, retailer success, enterprise sales, and BD to bring products from concept to launch and expansion.


About You
Minimum Qualifications
  • 6+ years of product management experience building B2B or enterprise software, including 3+ years delivering AI/ML-powered products from concept through GA.
  • Proven record shipping at least 2 AI/ML products used by enterprise customers with measurable financial outcomes (e.g., margin improvement, cost reduction, or productivity gains).
  • Hands-on data proficiency, including the ability to query or analyze large datasets (e.g., SQL or equivalent) and evaluate data quality, model performance, and signal reliability.
  • Experience leading cross-functional execution with engineering, data science, design, sales, and marketing to launch and scale products.
  • Demonstrated ability to build ROI and unit economics models and present business cases to executive audiences.
  • Experience navigating complex enterprise sales cycles, including security, IT, and legal/procurement processes.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to translate technical concepts for commercial audiences and commercial concepts for technical audiences.
  • Bachelor's degree in a technical, quantitative, or business field (e.g., Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Economics) or equivalent practical experience.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in grocery, retail, or supply chain with familiarity in store operations, inventory management, and key margin levers.
  • Exposure to agentic AI systems, LLM-based workflows, autonomous decision pipelines, prompt engineering, and AI evaluation/guardrail practices.
  • Background with demand forecasting, replenishment, or inventory optimization products and metrics (e.g., OSA, service level, shrink).
  • Familiarity with the retail tech stack, including WMS, POS, ERP/replenishment modules, EDI, and API-based integrations.
  • Experience displacing incumbents or winning competitive takeouts in enterprise accounts.
  • Early-career experience in management consulting, solutions architecture, or business analytics; comfortable running diagnostics and leading with financial outcomes.

#LI-Remote

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.

CA, NY, CT, NJ

$250,000-$264,000 USD

WA

$239,000-$252,500 USD

OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI

$230,000-$242,500 USD

All other states

$209,000-$220,500 USD

About Instacart

Instacart is an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States and Canada. The company offers its services via a website and mobile app. The service allows customers to order groceries from participating retailers with the shopping being done by a personal shopper. Instacart was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Apoorva Mehta, a former Amazon.com employee. Apoorva was born in India and moved with his family to Canada in 2000. He studied engineering at the University of Waterloo and graduated in 2008. He was a participant in Y Combinator's Summer 2012 batch, which eventually led to the creation of Instacart. In 2013, Mehta was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Apoorva previously worked at BlackBerry, Qualcomm, and then Amazon as a supply chain engineer, where he developed fulfillment systems to move packages from Amazon's warehouses to customers' homes. Before founding Instacart, Apoorva had tried to start at least 20 other services. He tried building an ad network for social gaming companies, and developing a social network specifically for lawyers, among other start-ups. Instacart originally launched in San Francisco. By April 2015, the firm had about 200 employees. It introduced a new policy around June allowing some shoppers to choose to be part-time employees, starting with Chicago and Boston and extending its offer to shoppers in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington D.C. the following month.
Learn more about Instacart
Industry
Founded
2012

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