Engineering Manager, Marketing Enablement & Technology

Overview

The Marketing Enablement & Technology (MET) team sits within Instacart's Marketing organization, building the systems that power company growth. Operating at the intersection of Marketing, Product, and Engineering, we own the platforms behind campaign feeds, audience targeting, event pipelines, and QA automation.

We're seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the Paid MarTech team, combining people leadership with technical strategy to build and scale the systems, data infrastructure, and mobile capabilities powering our Paid Marketing channels—one of our most substantial growth levers. The Paid MarTech pod builds unified, intelligent infrastructure enabling marketers to activate faster, measure accurately, and optimize confidently across Paid Social, Display, SEM, Online Video, Linear Television, and Streaming Audio.

You'll manage a team of approximately 9 engineers across backend, data engineering, and mobile disciplines, driving technical roadmap ownership while fostering a culture of collaboration, growth, and execution excellence. You'll partner closely with Marketing leadership, Product teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to scale existing systems, build new self-serve tooling, and ensure your team delivers measurable business impact.

About the Job

• Lead and develop a team of 9+ engineers across backend, data engineering, and mobile disciplines, providing coaching, feedback, and career development support to help each team member grow and succeed.
• Own the technical roadmap for Paid MarTech, balancing priorities across scaling existing systems (backend services, data pipelines, mobile attribution) and building new self-serve tooling that empowers marketing teams.
• Drive execution excellence by establishing clear goals, removing blockers, and ensuring the team delivers high-quality work on time while maintaining sustainable pace and healthy team dynamics.
• Build and strengthen cross-functional partnerships with Marketing leadership, Product, Analytics, and other engineering teams to align on priorities, gather requirements, and ensure technical solutions drive business impact.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement through regular 1:1s, team rituals, and creating an inclusive environment where all team members can do their best work.
• Partner with Senior Engineering Manager and cross-functional leaders on strategic planning, resource allocation, and organizational initiatives that support MET's mission and Instacart's growth.
• Guide technical decision-making across backend (Python, Ruby, APIs), data (SQL, Snowflake, DBT, Airflow), and mobile (iOS, SDK integrations) domains, ensuring architectural consistency and quality standards.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of software engineering or data engineering experience with strong technical background across backend, data, or mobile domains.
• 2+ years of engineering management experience leading teams of 6+ engineers, with demonstrated ability to coach, develop, and retain strong technical talent.
• Proven track record of owning technical roadmaps, balancing competing priorities, and delivering measurable business outcomes through team execution.
• Experience building strong cross-functional partnerships with non-engineering stakeholders (Marketing, Product, Analytics) and translating business needs into technical solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to create inclusive, collaborative team environments where engineers feel supported, challenged, and able to grow in their careers.
• Strong communication skills with ability to provide clear, actionable feedback and facilitate difficult conversations with empathy and directness.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing engineers across multiple technical disciplines (backend, data engineering, mobile) or leading full-stack teams.
• Background in marketing technology, ad tech, or growth engineering with deep understanding of paid marketing operations, attribution, and campaign optimization.
• Hands-on technical experience with technologies including Python, Ruby, SQL, Snowflake, Airflow, DBT, iOS development, and third-party SDK integrations.
• Experience scaling systems and teams in fast-paced, high-growth environments while maintaining engineering quality, team health, and sustainable pace.
• Track record of building self-serve tooling or internal platforms that enable non-technical stakeholders to operate independently and increase organizational efficiency.
• Strong product sense with ability to identify opportunities for technical innovation that drive significant business impact and competitive advantage.
• Experience with agile methodologies, sprint planning, OKR setting, and establishing team rituals that drive execution excellence and cross-functional collaboration.

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