Staff Back-end Engineer

As a Staff Back-end Engineer at Coupang, you will serve as a technical lead on critical cross-functional projects, overseeing the architecture and design of new microservices and machine learning pipelines. Your primary focus will be on improving the efficiency of our fulfillment systems, while also mentoring fellow engineers and enhancing team performance through your expertise in scalable software architecture.

Coupang requires candidates for the Staff Back-end Engineer position to hold a Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, alongside 7+ years of software engineering experience, particularly with Java. Additionally, strong knowledge of backend scalable architecture and operationalizing software in high-availability environments is crucial for success in this role.

In the role of Staff Back-end Engineer at Coupang, you will contribute by providing technical leadership on high-stakes projects, influencing the technical direction across multiple teams, and driving the adoption of new technologies. Your expert knowledge will help elevate the team's productivity and effectiveness, ensuring that innovative solutions are implemented seamlessly.

Preferred experience for the Staff Back-end Engineer role at Coupang includes familiarity with scalable distributed systems, especially in the eCommerce sector concerning supply chain management and inventory systems. Experience with AWS and an understanding of machine learning algorithms are also beneficial for applicants seeking to stand out in this competitive position.

The work environment for a Staff Back-end Engineer at Coupang is dynamic and fast-paced, focusing on innovation and collaboration. You will have the chance to work with talented professionals, tackle complex problems, and contribute to groundbreaking solutions in the eCommerce landscape, all while being supported in your career growth.

When answering this question, elaborate on specific projects where you designed or worked with microservices, highlighting the architectural decisions made and how they contributed to scalability and performance. Be sure to articulate the benefits of microservices as they relate to complex back-end systems.

Discuss specific strategies such as database optimization, caching mechanisms, and load balancing that you've implemented in past roles. Providing examples of how these strategies improved performance in production systems will demonstrate your hands-on experience.

In answering this question, share a particular challenge faced in a distributed system, the steps taken to address that challenge, and the outcomes. This illustrates both your problem-solving skills and critical thinking.

Provide specific instances of how you’ve mentored junior engineers, detailing the impact you had on their development and the team's performance. Demonstrating a commitment to helping others grow reflects positively on your leadership capabilities.

Highlight the best practices you follow to ensure high availability, such as redundancy, failover strategies, and regular monitoring. Support your answer with examples from your past experience where these practices were successfully implemented.

Mention the resources you utilize to keep current with technological advancements, such as online courses, tech blogs, conferences, or developer communities. This showcases your commitment to continuous learning and professional growth.

Talk through a specific scenario where a technical decision you made had a significant impact on a project's success. Detail the decision-making process, the considerations involved, and the eventual results, as this reveals your analytical and strategic abilities.

Be prepared to discuss the various tools and frameworks you have experience with and explain why they are your preferred choices for developing scalable applications. Relate this back to the context of your work at Coupang.

Discuss your strategies for fostering collaboration, such as using collaborative tools, regular meetings, and being proactive in communication. Show that you value teamwork and understand the complexities that come with cross-functional projects.

Elaborate on the key performance indicators you track, such as response time, uptime, or user engagement. Provide examples of how monitoring these metrics has led to meaningful adjustments or improvements in past projects.