Company Introduction
We exist to wow our customers. We know we’re doing the right thing when we hear our customers say, “How did I ever live without Coupang?” Born out of an obsession to make shopping, eating, and living easier than ever, we are collectively disrupting the multi-billion-dollar commerce industry from the ground up and establishing an unparalleled reputation for being leading and reliable force in South Korean commerce.
We are proud to have the best of both worlds — a startup culture with the resources of a large global public company. This fuels us to continue our growth and launch new services at the speed we have been since our inception. We are all entrepreneurs surrounded by opportunities to drive new initiatives and innovations. At our core, we are bold and ambitious people that like to get our hands dirty and make a hands-on impact. At Coupang, you will see yourself, your colleagues, your team, and the company grow every day.
Our mission to build the future of commerce is real. We push the boundaries of what’s possible to solve problems and break traditional tradeoffs. Join Coupang now to create an epic experience in this always-on, high-tech, and hyper-connected world.
Role Overview
Rocket Growth is the 2P marketplace at Coupang. Coupang’s Rocket Growth team is dedicated to providing our customers with the best selection at the lowest prices while ensuring utmost convenience for our sellers. We are seeking a Staff Back-end Engineer to join our mission. In this fast-paced environment, you will collaborate with a team of smart and passionate engineers to design and implement systems that meet the needs of our growing business. You will have direct ownership of new features aimed at enhancing the scalability, reliability, availability, extensibility, and performance of our platform. We prioritize delighting customers while building high-quality software and seek candidates with a proven track record in designing and implementing large-scale distributed systems.
Basic Qualifications
- 7+ years of professional software development experience, with focused on large-scale back-end systems and microservices architectures.
- Proven track record of designing, building, and operating high-throughput, low-latency distributed systems in production (handling strict SLAs/SLOs for availability and durability).
- Deep technical mastery in at least one modern back-end language (e.g., Go, Java, Python, C++, or Rust) and strong proficiency with relational (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and non-relational databases (e.g., Cassandra, Redis, DynamoDB).
- Demonstrated experience establishing architecture paradigms, API standards (REST, gRPC, GraphQL), and technical strategy across multiple engineering teams.
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure), container orchestration (Kubernetes), and modern CI/CD pipelines.
Preferred Qualifications
- Expertise in event-driven architectures and distributed messaging platforms (e.g., Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, Pulsar).
- Proven history of leading major technical turnarounds, such as zero-downtime database migrations, legacy system modernization, or major infrastructure cost-optimization initiatives.
- Strong background in observability and reliability engineering (distributed tracing, OpenTelemetry, chaos engineering, incident management leadership).
- History of active technical mentorship—successfully growing Senior (L5) engineers into Lead/Staff roles.
Pay & Benefits
Our compensation reflects the cost of living across several US geographic markets. At Coupang, your base pay is one part of your total compensation.
The base pay for this position ranges from $152,000/year in our lowest geographic market to $261,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on several factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
General Description of All Benefits
- Medical/Dental/Vision/Life, AD&D insurance
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) & Health Savings Account (HSA)
- Long-term/Short-term Disability
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program
- 401K Plan with Company Match
- 18-21 days of the Paid Time Off (PTO) a year based on the tenure
- 12 Public Holidays
- Paid Parental leave
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- MTV - [Free] Electric Car Charging Station
General Description of Other Compensation
“Other Compensation” includes, but is not limited to, bonuses, equity, or other forms of compensation that would be offered to the hired applicant in addition to their established salary range or wage scale.
Recruitment Process
- Application Review - Job Fit Interview - Focus Interview – Offer
- The exact nature of the recruitment process may vary according to the specific job and may be changed due to scheduling or other circumstances.
- Interview schedules and the results will be informed to the applicant via the e-mail address submitted at the application stage.
Details to Consider
- This job posting may be closed prior to the stated end date for application if all openings are filled.
- Coupang has the right to rescind an offer of employment if a candidate is found to have submitted false information as part of the application process.
- Those eligible for employment protection (recipients of veteran’s benefits, the disabled, etc.) may receive preferential treatment for employment in accordance with applicable laws.
Privacy Notice
- Your personal information will be collected and managed by Coupang as stated in the Application Privacy Notice located below: https://www.coupang.jobs/privacy-policy/
Coupang is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or gender (including pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, transgender status), national origin, age, disability, medical condition, HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C status, marital status, military or veteran status, use of a trained dog guide or service animal, political activities, or affiliations, citizenship, or any other characteristic or class protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation in the recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at [email protected].
Job Requisition ID: R0079167
Skills Required
- 7+ years of professional software development experience focused on large-scale back-end systems and microservices architectures
- Experience designing, building, and operating high-throughput, low-latency distributed systems in production
- Technical mastery in at least one modern back-end language: Go, Java, Python, C++, or Rust
- Proficiency with relational databases such as PostgreSQL or MySQL
- Proficiency with non-relational databases such as Cassandra, Redis, or DynamoDB
- Experience establishing architecture paradigms, API standards, and technical strategy across multiple engineering teams
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure, container orchestration, and modern CI/CD pipelines
- Expertise in event-driven architectures and distributed messaging platforms such as Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, or Pulsar
- Experience leading technical turnarounds, including zero-downtime database migrations, legacy modernization, or infrastructure cost optimization
- Background in observability and reliability engineering, including distributed tracing, OpenTelemetry, chaos engineering, or incident management leadership
- Experience mentoring engineers into Lead or Staff roles
Coupang Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Coupang and has not been reviewed or approved by Coupang.
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Healthcare Strength — Benefits are described as robust, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, mental health, and transgender healthcare. Some locations also offer on-site or virtual health screenings that enhance preventive care access.
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Retirement Support — Financial programs include a 401(k) with company matching and an employee stock purchase plan alongside performance bonuses. Feedback suggests these elements provide a structured foundation for long-term savings and wealth building.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off is described as generous with accrual increasing with tenure, complemented by company-paid holidays and parental leave. Flexible work arrangements in some roles further support time away when needed.
Coupang Insights
What We Do
We exist to wow our customers. We know we’re doing the right thing when we hear our customers say, “How did we ever live without Coupang?” Born out of an obsession to make shopping, eating, and living easier than ever, we’re collectively disrupting the multi-billion-dollar e-commerce industry from the ground up. We are one of the fastest-growing e-commerce companies that established an unparalleled reputation for being a dominant and reliable force in South Korean commerce. We are proud to have the best of both worlds — a startup culture with the resources of a large global public company. This fuels us to continue our growth and launch new services at the speed we have been since our inception. We are all entrepreneurial, surrounded by opportunities to drive new initiatives and innovations. At our core, we are bold and ambitious people that like to get our hands dirty and make a hands-on impact. At Coupang, you will see yourself, your colleagues, your team, and the company grow every day. Our mission to build the future of commerce is real. We push the boundaries of what’s possible to solve problems and break traditional tradeoffs. Join Coupang now to create an epic experience in this always-on, high-tech, and hyper-connected world.
Why Work With Us
We are proud to have the best of both worlds — a startup culture with the resources of a large global public company. This fuels us to continue our growth and launch new services at the speed we have been since our inception. At our core, we are bold and ambitious people that like to get our hands dirty and make a hands-on impact.
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