[Hiring] Director, IT Operations @Instacart

Role Description

Instacart's IT Operations team is the engine that keeps over 4,000 employees productive, connected, and supported across the company. Sitting within the Engineering organisation and reporting to the Head of IT and Enterprise Security, this Director leads the three core functions of IT Operations — IT Support, IT Logistics, and AV & Executive Support — through a team of three managers and approximately 20 people in total. The role exists at a pivotal moment: as Instacart embraces AI-powered tooling and continues its international expansion, IT Operations must evolve from a reactive support function into a proactive, innovation-led organisation that meets employees where they work.

About the Job

• Lead the IT Operations organisation across three functional teams — IT Support, IT Logistics, and AV & Executive Support — through three direct-report managers, maintaining a high-performing culture on a team known for its stability and service excellence.
• Set the strategic vision and operating model for IT Operations, aligning team priorities with broader company objectives and driving a data-informed approach to decision-making, service performance, and leadership reporting.
• Deploy next-generation IT support that meets employees inside the tools they already use — including AI-powered interfaces such as Claude — reducing friction, improving resolution times, and setting a new standard for what enterprise IT support looks like.
• Resolve the complexity of international IT logistics, making the shipping and provisioning of hardware seamless as Instacart expands its footprint outside North America.
• Partner cross-functionally with Executive Leadership, Workplace & Facilities, and Enterprise Security to deliver seamless IT services and raise the bar on corporate security standards.
• Drive innovation across the IT operations space, identifying and shipping at least one industry-leading initiative per year that directly addresses end-user needs — from onboarding speed to agent-based support tooling.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of leading a large, multi-disciplinary IT operations team — covering IT support, logistics, and AV or executive support — at a mid-to-large technology company.
• Experience managing teams of 20 or more people across multiple IT functions, with direct oversight of managers and demonstrated success in hiring, developing, and retaining talent.
• Budget ownership and financial accountability at scale — experience managing IT budgets of $5M or more, including hardware, licensing, and vendor spend.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organisational change and innovation, not just execute existing playbooks — this role requires someone who builds the vision, not just delivers against it.
• Authentic, transparent leadership style with a track record of building trust-based relationships with direct reports, peers, and senior stakeholders up to and including C-suite level.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with Corporate Engineering tooling (Okta, Google Workspace, Slack, Risotto) and technical concepts, enabling productive partnership with engineering-adjacent teams without needing to own the technical work.
• Experience leading IT operations through a significant company transition — IPO, rapid headcount growth, M&A, or international expansion.
• Hands-on experience integrating AI or automation tools into IT service delivery and end-user support workflows.

Benefits

• Highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work.
• Eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants.

Company Description

Instacart invites 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. 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.