Today we’re stepping inside the vibrant and growing Instagram San Francisco (IGSF) office where team members are hard at work bringing one billion Instagrammers closer to the people and things they love. You just might be familiar with their work - they're behind impactful Instagram products including Stories, Live, IGTV, Direct, Profile, and the rich experiences like AR effects and video chat that our Camera team develops. Our new Media Solutions team—which provides influencers the tools to effectively reach IG followers who love what they do—is also based in IGSF.

IGSF is our third full-stack office, with talented engineering teams that span iOS, Android, and server, and diverse talent across product management, design, research, data engineering and analytics. Our development teams include graphics experts, and mobile and server infrastructure specialists who build robust systems to power our products at scale. At the same time, collaboration across offices, including New York and Menlo Park, continues to be incredibly important.

So what’s the San Francisco vibe all about? The office was built to embody Instagram’s core values, putting community first and inspiring self-expression, attention to craft, and simplicity around every corner. Art from local Instagrammers and retro furniture brighten the light and airy space, a custom coffee station refuels employees, and our team enjoys being right in the center of city life. We’re also always looking for ways to connect with other folks in the community; like hosting Women in Tech events at our office.

To get a better sense of what people can expect from working at IGSF, we sat down with a few team members to hear their experiences firsthand.

“I joined Instagram in 2013 as an intern, during the early days of the company. I was the fifth Android engineer at the time and helped build video before Instagram had video support! It was really exciting for me to get exposure to large scale projects like that. Since then, I’ve been able to work on three different teams: Explore, Shopping, and Direct. I love that Facebook and Instagram encourage us to challenge ourselves by trying different teams and learn new skill sets. Even though all my experience and expertise is with Android, I was also able to work on iOS, as it was a goal of mine to understand both mobile platforms.

Working at Instagram San Francisco is rewarding because we get to touch some of the most exciting products like Instagram Direct, Stories, Live, Profile and IGTV. But what I love most about working here definitely is the people. Everyone is so passionate about the product, and super motivated to make it better and easily accessible for our 1 billion users. People are also really open to your feedback. For example, if I think the design of a product feature doesn’t make sense for a certain use case, I can share that with the team. If I could give new engineers advice, it would be to have a strong passion for the product you’re working with and a good understanding on how people use things. Someone in France will use a product in a different way than someone in India. Passion and insights like these will truly help you grow.”

“On my first day at Facebook, I was amazed that I had access to the entire repository of code. I spotted a bug in a major feature and messaged another engineer about it, who said I could write the fix if I were up to it. I coded the fix, had it reviewed, and pushed it live to hundreds of millions of people, all on my first day. It was unbelievable.

I now lead engineering for Instagram Live, which lets people connect in real-time using our Live Streaming and Video Calling products. I've always admired Instagram because I come from a mixed background, having studied film in addition to computer science and math. Instagram's focus on building beautiful, emotionally rich, and well-crafted products was a huge draw for me, and I'm thrilled to be at a company working at the intersection of art and engineering.

As a manager, I get fulfillment from coaching and developing other people. I love helping people work through difficult situations and finding opportunities for them to showcase their talent. Growing up, I knew that I wanted to be an engineer because I've always been fascinated with building things, but I struggled with the fact people like myself were not represented in the field. Now, I look for ways to help other under-represented people find opportunities to be in roles like mine. I've participated in our Black Mobile Engineering dinner series, our Grace Hopper presence, our internal Diversity and Inclusiveness program, and the Facebook University program, which helps students from under-represented backgrounds to get to know Facebook’s people and services.

Having held several other jobs, I've truly found that Facebook is the one place where I could come in from day one and have a huge impact while being my authentic self. And I want others to know that this can also be a place for you too, where you can bring your authentic self to work, and help bring others closer to the people and things they love.”

“As part of my undergraduate work at the University of Waterloo, I completed six internships, the fifth of which was at Facebook. The Facebook internship stood out for many reasons, but especially because it gave me the opportunity to build products that could be used by my own friends and family. That experience inspired me to jump at the chance when I was offered a full-time role with Instagram over three years ago.

I now work as a software engineer in Instagram’s San Francisco office on the IGTV team, Instagram’s new app for watching long-form, vertical video. I work cross-functionally with multiple teams ranging from Instagram Ads and Stories to Explore and Direct . The cross-functional aspect of my work helps keep things moving and exciting. When I receive Instagram Direct messages from my friends or notice the person next to me on the bus watching a video on IGTV, it fills me with incredible pride to know that I had a hand in building these experiences that help bring others closer to the people and things they love.

My best advice to anyone interested in a career at Instagram is to not let self-doubt hinder you. Just because you don’t meet every single requirement of a job opening doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. Working here, alongside the most amazing, down-to-earth people I’ve ever encountered and seeing the tangible impact of my work all around me has been humbling, and we're always looking to build even better teams.”