We're transforming the grocery industry

At Instacart, we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Where others see a simple need for grocery delivery, we see exciting complexity and endless opportunity to serve the varied needs of our community. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.

Instacart has become a lifeline for millions of people, and we’re building the team to help push our shopping cart forward. If you’re ready to do the best work of your life, come join our table.

Instacart is a Flex First team

There’s no one-size fits all approach to how we do our best work. Our employees have the flexibility to choose where they do their best work—whether it’s from home, an office, or your favorite coffee shop—while staying connected and building community through regular in-person events. Learn more about our flexible approach to where we work.

Overview

About the Role

We are currently seeking an Industrial Design Lead who will oversee Caper Cart, Instacart’s IDF award winning AI-powered smart cart. Caper aims to transform the in-store shopping experience by helping customers save time and money while helping grocery retailers grow their business. You will be at the forefront of building an innovative product that sits at the intersection of industrial design, computer vision, and software; it’s already actively changing the entire grocery industry! As the Lead, your mission is to build a world class smart shopping cart by improving on our current cart generation as well as driving future cart generations through a deep understanding of the customer experience, technology landscape & requirements, and market trends. You will be responsible for overseeing the work and career development of our two industrial designers in Shanghai, driving work in a hands-on manner, and ensuring a high bar craft and quality bar.

About The Team

Caper’s Design team is responsible for the hardware and software experiences that customers and retailers use while shopping in grocery stores. This includes the industrial design of our carts as well as the software experience throughout the pre-shopping, shopping, and post shopping journey. Our team is distributed across Shanghai, LA, New York, and the Bay Area; the industrial design team is based out of Shanghai.

About The Job

We’re seeking a hands on creative problem solver to define our Caper cart experiences by pushing the boundaries of industrial design. This includes improving/refining our current generation of carts and defining future generations.
You’ll use your full range of skills including strategic design, ideation, prototyping iteration and research.
You’ll partner closely with Product, Engineering, User Research, and Product Design to bring our carts to life.
You’ll drive getting customer insights throughout the development process and be responsible for translating them into actionable improvements in partnership research
You’ll be responsible for coaching and developing the careers of our industrial designers.
You will be driving work in a hands-on manner, jumping in when needed, while also overseeing the work of our industrial designers.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum 8+ years experience working as an industrial designer. Proven track record of working on innovative consumer hardware products with impact to customers and the business.
Portfolio case studies that show end to end experience working on hardware products, from generative concepts to prototypes to final production.
A craft leader with strong attention to detail, including form, proportion, visual aesthetics, materials, and color. Track record of building world-class products with simple, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing form even when faced with complexity or tough constraints.
Proven track record of transforming experiences by fluidly moving between innovative visioning and near-term execution. Keeps a pulse on industry and market trends, as well as latest technologies.
Able to work across disciplines and collaborate with mechanical and electrical engineering, product designers, and product managers.
Able to work in a fast-paced, start-up environment with excellent communication and collaboration skills.
Prior experience managing industrial designers with a track record of mentoring and growing designers at different points in their careers.
Able to work hours that work for the team in Shanghai when needed; willing to travel to Shanghai during key moments of the development process.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working on consumer hardware products with computer vision or weight sensors is a plus.
Language fluency in Chinese (Mandarin) is a plus, but not a requirement.
Experience managing a remote team across different time zones.

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

$189,000—$210,000 USD

WA

$182,000—$202,000 USD

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

$174,000—$193,000 USD

All other states

$157,000—$174,000 USD

Instacart jobs

Industrial Design Lead - Caper

Industrial Design Lead - Caper