Coupang
Sr. Director Back-end Engineering – AI Infrastructure Orchestration
Coupang, Seattle, Washington, us, 98127
Sr. Director Back-end Engineering – AI Infrastructure Orchestration role at Coupang
Company Introduction
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 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 and What You Will Do Strategy and Leadership
Define and execute the
long‑term vision and roadmap
for the company’s AI infrastructure orchestration layer, aligning it with overall business and AI Services goals.
Lead, mentor, and grow a
high‑performing engineering and operations team
focused on AI infrastructure, and platform engineering.
Manage budget and resource allocation for AI infrastructure deliverables.
Act as a
key liaison
between AI Infra and other services owners and consumers, core engineering, Cloud infrastructure, and executive leadership.
AI Infra Development and Operations
Oversee the
design, implementation, and maintenance
of the core orchestration platforms for large‑scale AI model training (e.g., distributed training, hyperparameter tuning) and deployment (e.g., containerization, serverless functions, edge deployment).
Ensure
reliability, security, and compliance
of the AI infrastructure, meeting strict standards for data governance and model integrity.
Establish
Service Level Objectives (SLOs)
and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the AI platform services and lead efforts for continuous optimization and performance tuning.
Success Metrics A successful Senior Director – AI Infrastructure Orchestration will be measured by:
The
time‑to‑market
for AI Infar build, scale and operate
The
resource utilization rate
and
cost efficiency
of the AI compute infrastructure.
The
reliability and uptime
of the core AI platform services.
The
talent retention and development
within the AI Infrastructure team.
Technology and Architecture
Select, evaluate, and integrate the
core technologies
required for the AI stack (e.g., Kubernetes, Kubeflow, Ray, ML frameworks, GPU/accelerator management, distributed file systems).
Champion
infrastructure‑as‑code (IaC)
principles to manage and provision AI resources consistently and at scale.
Qualifications Education Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
Experience
15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, infrastructure, or platform operations.
5+ years of experience leading and managing technical teams, ideally in a Director or Sr. Director level or equivalent capacity.
Deep, hands‑on experience designing and operating
large‑scale distributed systems
and
cloud‑native architectures
Proven experience specifically with
AI infrastructure orchestration
(e.g., using Kubernetes, Kubeflow, or similar MLOps tools) and managing accelerated‑compute resources (GPUs, TPUs etc).
15+ years of Cloud backend engineering, Cloud Design, Deployment, DevOps.
15+ years of experience leading system design, architecture leveraging Private Clouds and AWS and/or Azure/ GCP.
10+ years of demonstrable building and operating infrastructure as code. Infra Automation, Comfortable with many flavors of Linux.
15+ year’s of experience in building high‑performance, highly‑available and scalable distributed systems in the cloud.
15+ year’s of experience in building and managing high‑performance, highly‑available and scalable Hybrid Cloud cloud environments.
Skills
Expert‑level knowledge of
containerization and orchestration
(Docker, Kubernetes).
Strong background in
DevOps and MLOps principles
and tooling.
Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, Go).
Exceptional strategic planning, organizational, and written/verbal communication skills.
Preferred
Prior experience managing infrastructure for training and inference of
large language models (LLMs)
or foundation models.
Experience in a regulated industry with strict compliance requirements.
AI Private Cloud -Building and operating
General Description of All Benefits
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
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.
Our compensation reflects the cost of labor 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 $184,000/year in our lowest geographic market to $376,000/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.
Equal Opportunities for All Coupang is an equal opportunity employer. Our unprecedented success could not be possible without the valuable inputs of our globally diverse team.
Coupang is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to actual or perceived race (including traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hair styles), color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin (including language use restrictions), age (40 and over), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C status, family status (including but not limited to marital or domestic partnership status), military or veteran status, use of a trained dog guide or service animal, political activities or affiliations, ancestry, citizenship, family and medical leave status, status as a victim of any violent crime, or any other characteristic or class protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Coupang is also committed to providing a safe work environment for its employees and its consumers. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation in the application of recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at usrecruiting@coupang.com.
Seniority level
Director
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Internet Marketplace Platforms
#J-18808-Ljbffr
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 and What You Will Do Strategy and Leadership
Define and execute the
long‑term vision and roadmap
for the company’s AI infrastructure orchestration layer, aligning it with overall business and AI Services goals.
Lead, mentor, and grow a
high‑performing engineering and operations team
focused on AI infrastructure, and platform engineering.
Manage budget and resource allocation for AI infrastructure deliverables.
Act as a
key liaison
between AI Infra and other services owners and consumers, core engineering, Cloud infrastructure, and executive leadership.
AI Infra Development and Operations
Oversee the
design, implementation, and maintenance
of the core orchestration platforms for large‑scale AI model training (e.g., distributed training, hyperparameter tuning) and deployment (e.g., containerization, serverless functions, edge deployment).
Ensure
reliability, security, and compliance
of the AI infrastructure, meeting strict standards for data governance and model integrity.
Establish
Service Level Objectives (SLOs)
and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the AI platform services and lead efforts for continuous optimization and performance tuning.
Success Metrics A successful Senior Director – AI Infrastructure Orchestration will be measured by:
The
time‑to‑market
for AI Infar build, scale and operate
The
resource utilization rate
and
cost efficiency
of the AI compute infrastructure.
The
reliability and uptime
of the core AI platform services.
The
talent retention and development
within the AI Infrastructure team.
Technology and Architecture
Select, evaluate, and integrate the
core technologies
required for the AI stack (e.g., Kubernetes, Kubeflow, Ray, ML frameworks, GPU/accelerator management, distributed file systems).
Champion
infrastructure‑as‑code (IaC)
principles to manage and provision AI resources consistently and at scale.
Qualifications Education Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
Experience
15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, infrastructure, or platform operations.
5+ years of experience leading and managing technical teams, ideally in a Director or Sr. Director level or equivalent capacity.
Deep, hands‑on experience designing and operating
large‑scale distributed systems
and
cloud‑native architectures
Proven experience specifically with
AI infrastructure orchestration
(e.g., using Kubernetes, Kubeflow, or similar MLOps tools) and managing accelerated‑compute resources (GPUs, TPUs etc).
15+ years of Cloud backend engineering, Cloud Design, Deployment, DevOps.
15+ years of experience leading system design, architecture leveraging Private Clouds and AWS and/or Azure/ GCP.
10+ years of demonstrable building and operating infrastructure as code. Infra Automation, Comfortable with many flavors of Linux.
15+ year’s of experience in building high‑performance, highly‑available and scalable distributed systems in the cloud.
15+ year’s of experience in building and managing high‑performance, highly‑available and scalable Hybrid Cloud cloud environments.
Skills
Expert‑level knowledge of
containerization and orchestration
(Docker, Kubernetes).
Strong background in
DevOps and MLOps principles
and tooling.
Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, Go).
Exceptional strategic planning, organizational, and written/verbal communication skills.
Preferred
Prior experience managing infrastructure for training and inference of
large language models (LLMs)
or foundation models.
Experience in a regulated industry with strict compliance requirements.
AI Private Cloud -Building and operating
General Description of All Benefits
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
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.
Our compensation reflects the cost of labor 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 $184,000/year in our lowest geographic market to $376,000/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.
Equal Opportunities for All Coupang is an equal opportunity employer. Our unprecedented success could not be possible without the valuable inputs of our globally diverse team.
Coupang is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to actual or perceived race (including traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hair styles), color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin (including language use restrictions), age (40 and over), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C status, family status (including but not limited to marital or domestic partnership status), military or veteran status, use of a trained dog guide or service animal, political activities or affiliations, ancestry, citizenship, family and medical leave status, status as a victim of any violent crime, or any other characteristic or class protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Coupang is also committed to providing a safe work environment for its employees and its consumers. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation in the application of recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at usrecruiting@coupang.com.
Seniority level
Director
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Internet Marketplace Platforms
#J-18808-Ljbffr