Machine Learning Research Intern

About the role

## About the Company

Instacart is a leading grocery technology platform focused on making grocery delivery convenient, affordable, and accessible. Since 2012, the company has connected customers across the United States and Canada with groceries and everyday essentials from thousands of stores.

Instacart uses large-scale data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced technology to improve customer experiences, optimize operations, enhance search and recommendations, and support its e-commerce and advertising businesses.

The company operates as a Flex First organization, giving employees flexibility to work remotely, from an office, or from another suitable location while maintaining strong team collaboration and community.

## About the Role

Instacart is seeking talented PhD students for Machine Learning internship opportunities across multiple AI and ML teams.

As a Machine Learning Research Intern, you will have the opportunity to work on large-scale, real-world problems across search, advertising, personalization, recommendation systems, fulfillment, pricing, product intelligence, knowledge graphs, and fraud detection.

Depending on your background and interests, you may work alongside experienced engineers, data scientists, researchers, and product managers to develop machine learning models and algorithms that directly impact millions of customers.

The internship provides an opportunity to work on challenging technical problems involving internet-scale data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, optimization, natural language processing, and recommendation systems.

## About the Machine Learning Teams

### Economics Team

The Economics team works on challenging problems involving Instacart's multi-sided marketplace and customer decision-making.

Key areas include:

• Pricing optimization
• Online advertising
• Uplift modeling
• Long-term value modeling
• Causal inference
• Marketplace economics
• Customer behavior analysis

### Search & Discovery ML Team

The Search and Discovery ML team develops technologies that help customers find the right products across Instacart's shopping ecosystem.

Interns may contribute to:

• Search relevance
• Ranking systems
• Query understanding
• Personalization
• Recommendation systems
• Large-scale search optimization
• Product discovery
• Machine learning for shopping experiences

You will work with engineers, data scientists, and product managers to develop models that improve search quality and relevance.

### Content AI Team

The Content AI team works on generative AI, recommendations, catalog intelligence, and product understanding for grocery e-commerce.

The team applies technologies such as:

• Generative AI
• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Agentic AI systems
• Computer vision
• Recommendation models
• Catalog intelligence
• Automated content generation
• Real-time feed ranking

Interns will have opportunities to work on advanced AI systems that improve product understanding and customer experiences at scale.

## Key Responsibilities

Depending on your background and team placement, responsibilities may include:

• Develop and evaluate machine learning models for large-scale applications.
• Research new approaches to search, ranking, recommendation, personalization, and advertising.
• Develop algorithms for understanding customer queries and shopping intent.
• Improve search relevance and ranking using signals from multiple data sources.
• Build machine learning solutions for advertising quality and click-through prediction.
• Work on knowledge graphs and graph-based data management.
• Develop natural language interfaces for data and knowledge discovery.
• Research fraud detection and prevention techniques.
• Apply cost-sensitive learning methods to reduce fraud-related losses.
• Develop pricing models to estimate willingness to pay.
• Support pricing optimization and customer experience improvements.
• Work on logistics and fulfillment optimization problems.
• Develop supply and demand prediction models.
• Research last-mile delivery and in-store optimization.
• Apply machine learning to personalization and recommendation systems.
• Explore generative AI and LLM-based solutions for e-commerce applications.
• Work with product and catalog intelligence systems.
• Develop AI-powered content generation solutions.
• Conduct experiments and evaluate model performance.
• Analyze large-scale datasets to identify useful patterns and insights.
• Collaborate with engineers, data scientists, researchers, and product managers.
• Communicate technical findings and research results effectively.
• Contribute to production-oriented machine learning solutions.

## Research Areas

Interns may have the opportunity to work in areas including:

### Query Understanding

Apply natural language processing and machine learning techniques to understand customer search intent and improve shopping experiences.

### Search Relevance & Ranking

Develop ranking models and algorithms that help customers find relevant products quickly and efficiently.

### Advertising & Ads Quality

Improve advertising performance, click-through prediction, revenue, and return on advertising spend.

### Knowledge Graphs

Work with graph-based data management, knowledge discovery, and natural language interfaces for accessing complex datasets.

### Fraud Detection

Develop machine learning approaches to detect and prevent fraudulent activity while minimizing financial losses.

### Pricing

Build models that estimate customer willingness to pay and support pricing decisions that balance revenue and customer experience.

### Logistics & Fulfillment

Apply optimization and predictive modeling techniques to supply and demand forecasting, last-mile delivery, and in-store operations.

### Recommendations & Personalization

Develop recommendation systems that provide customers with relevant products and personalized shopping experiences.

### Generative AI

Explore LLMs, agentic systems, computer vision, and other generative AI technologies to improve catalog intelligence and e-commerce experiences.

## Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, or a related field.
• Strong programming skills in Python and C++.
• Strong understanding of algorithms and machine learning concepts.
• Ability to analyze complex technical problems.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Curious and motivated to learn new technologies and methodologies.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of technical projects.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.

## Preferred Qualifications

• Enrollment in a PhD program at a leading university in the United States.
• Previous internship or professional experience in machine learning.
• Experience conducting machine learning research.
• Experience working with large-scale datasets.
• Experience with recommendation systems, search, NLP, computer vision, optimization, or related areas.
• Research publications or projects in machine learning or artificial intelligence.

## Technical Skills

• Python
• C++
• Machine Learning
• Artificial Intelligence
• Natural Language Processing
• Search & Ranking
• Recommendation Systems
• Personalization
• Generative AI
• Large Language Models
• Knowledge Graphs
• Computer Vision
• Optimization
• Causal Inference
• Data Science
• Algorithm Development

## Work Arrangement

This is a **fully remote internship**. Instacart follows a Flex First approach that provides employees with flexibility regarding where they work.

The base compensation for the role may vary depending on the candidate's permanent work location and other factors.

## Compensation & Benefits

Instacart provides competitive compensation and benefits based on the location where employees work.

Compensation may vary depending on:

• Permanent work location
• Candidate experience
• Technical skills
• Responsibilities associated with the role
• Other applicable factors

## Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a technically strong PhD researcher who is passionate about machine learning and enjoys solving complex, large-scale problems.

You should be curious, self-motivated, hands-on, and comfortable working with researchers and engineers to turn research ideas into practical solutions.

Candidates interested in search, recommendations, personalization, generative AI, NLP, knowledge graphs, pricing, advertising, optimization, or machine learning research may be especially well suited to this opportunity.

## Equal Opportunity

Instacart is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and fostering an inclusive workplace. Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of background or other characteristics protected by applicable law.