Expansions Program Manager at Instacart

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 Instacart’s Expansions team brings every new retailer live on our platform and enables new products and services that enhance the consumer experience. We work cross-functionally across Business Development, Product & Engineering, and Operations to build scalable systems and processes that power seamless retailer enablement. We’re looking for a Program Manager to own the end-to-end execution of strategic retailer launches across grocery and other retail verticals. In this role, you will lead our highest-complexity launches — from scoping and configuration through go-live and post-launch stabilization — across both delivery and pickup fulfillment models. You will drive cross-functional alignment to ensure zero-defect launches while proactively identifying opportunities to improve how we launch at scale. You’ll join a high-impact, high-performing team that values ownership, scalability, and creative problem-solving. We’re an AI-forward team that actively integrates AI tools into our day-to-day workflows to move faster, reduce manual effort, and focus our energy on the judgment calls that matter most. If you thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and enjoy building systems that scale, this role offers the opportunity to drive meaningful impact across Instacart’s operations. About the Job • Lead end-to-end enablement and management of strategic retailer launches across grocery and other retail verticals, ensuring zero-defect launches from scoping through post-launch stabilization. • Own the launch and configuration of fulfillment models across delivery and pickup, serving as a subject matter expert on platform setup, service options, and fulfillment configurations. • Proactively identify inefficiencies in launch processes and drive cross-functional solutions. Develop and maintain SOPs, tooling adoption strategies, and escalation frameworks that reduce time-to-launch. • Partner with Engineering, Product, Business Development, and Operations teams to drive alignment on configurations, tooling requirements, and launch readiness. • Leverage AI tools to accelerate research, analysis, documentation, and process design. Identify opportunities to integrate AI into team workflows and champion adoption across the broader organization. • Provide structured, timely status updates on active launches. Surface risks, blockers, and bandwidth constraints early and synthesize learnings to share best practices with the broader team. • Monitor launched retailers for configuration issues and escalations, owning the resolution path and driving cross-functional alignment to close gaps. About You Minimum Qualifications • 3+ years of experience in consulting, strategy & operations, program management, or a related field. • Demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional projects with multiple stakeholders and competing timelines. • Strong ownership mentality — you identify what needs to happen and drive it forward without waiting for direction. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill complexity into clear, actionable updates. • Comfort working with data and technical systems — you can navigate configurations, debug issues, and partner effectively with technical teams. • Proficiency with AI tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot) and a demonstrated ability to integrate them into day-to-day workflows. Preferred Qualifications • Proficiency in SQL or equivalent data analysis tools, or willingness to learn. • Experience working in high-growth or fast-paced environments, such as technology or e-commerce. #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$120,000—$126,000 USDWA$114,000—$120,000 USDOR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI$110,000—$116,000 USDAll other states$100,000—$105,000 USD