Staff, Back-end Engineer (Gateway Services)

Responsibilities

• Design and implement Service Mesh architecture and fine-grained traffic control systems in large-scale microservices environments
• Develop and enhance core infrastructure components related to traffic management, including service discovery, load balancing, and resiliency mechanisms
• Build and operate Service Mesh components using technologies such as Istio and Envoy within Kubernetes environments
• Architect and develop workload and service management infrastructure for large-scale distributed systems
• Design and implement high-performance infrastructure components using Go, Rust, or C++
• Simplify complex infrastructure problems into scalable and executable solutions aligned with Coupang's leadership principles (Move with Urgency, Ruthless Prioritization)
• Drive platform scalability, reliability, and operational excellence, setting high standards for system design and architecture
• Perform deep root cause analysis of critical system issues and proactively prevent recurrence
• Collaborate with platform teams and technical leaders to improve system scalability and unlock new innovation opportunities
• Act as a technical leader and evangelist, promoting Service Mesh and traffic management best practices across the organization

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science or a related technical field
• 8+ years of software development experience with at least 2+ years in a Technical Lead role
• Experience in designing and implementing traffic management solutions for large-scale systems
• Hands-on experience in designing and building large-scale distributed systems within the past 3 years
• Strong experience in designing and implementing traffic management solutions at scale
• Proven expertise in Service Mesh technologies (e.g., Istio, Envoy)
• Strong programming skills in Go, Rust, or C++, with a track record of delivering mission-critical systems
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to independently drive complex technical initiatives
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across cross-functional teams
• Deep understanding of networking fundamentals including VPCs, subnets, routing, gateways, and service networking
• Strong knowledge of modern microservices architecture and API design patterns at scale
• Experience building high-performance, large-scale distributed systems
• Experience with Kubernetes ecosystem tools (e.g., ArgoCD, SPIFFE)
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment and lead large-scale pro

Additional Information

Korean text will follow English 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 The Gateway Services team is responsible for building Coupang's traffic infrastructure layer leveraging Service Mesh architecture to enable reliable, scalable, and efficient inter-service communication across the company. This includes critical capabilities such as service discovery, load balancing, traffic resiliency, traffic management, failure recovery, and observability. As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, you will play a critical role in designing and evolving the Service Mesh platform that powers Coupang's services at scale. You will lead the development of fine-grained, enterprise-wide traffic control systems using state-of-the-art technologies such as Istio, Envoy, Kubernetes, ArgoCD, and SPIFFE. In this role, you will not only drive architectural decisions and deliver highly scalable infrastructure but also act as a thought leader and evangelist, promoting best practices in traffic management across the organization. You will collaborate with cross-functional platform teams to solve complex infrastructure challenges and establish a modern, extensible platform that supports Coupang's rapid growth.

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