Staff Software Engineer, Ads Growth

As a Staff Software Engineer at Coupang, your primary responsibilities will include designing and developing our large-scale recommendation pipeline, implementing a low-latency service API, and optimizing budget allocation and ROAS for advertisers. You will work to empower clients with insightful advertising recommendations and ensure maximum effectiveness of their campaigns while managing vast quantities of data in a distributed setting.

To qualify for the Staff Software Engineer position at Coupang, candidates must hold a Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline. Additionally, candidates should have over five years of experience with fundamental algorithms, system design, and large distributed systems, along with mastery in Java, Spark, and SQL, ideally in building data frameworks or machine learning systems.

Candidates for the Staff Software Engineer position at Coupang should be proficient in Java, Spark, and SQL. These programming languages are essential for coding and maintaining the large-scale data infrastructure required for our advertising recommendation systems.

Coupang fosters an environment that encourages both personal and professional growth for its Staff Software Engineers. By providing opportunities to work on innovative projects, learning new technologies, and promoting a culture where team members can take ownership of their work, Coupang ensures that employees continually develop their skills and advance their careers.

Coupang offers an attractive benefits package for Staff Software Engineers, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, long-term disability coverage, a 401K plan with company match, and generous paid time off. Coupled with unique perks like paid parental leave and pre-tax commuter benefits, Coupang takes pride in supporting the holistic well-being of its employees.

When discussing the architecture of a large-scale data system in your interview for the Staff Software Engineer role at Coupang, focus on key components such as data sources, ETL processes, storage solutions, and how you ensured scalability and reliability. Highlight specific challenges you faced and the innovative solutions you implemented, emphasizing your decision-making process.

In your response, describe your systematic approach to optimizing distributed systems, including analyzing bottlenecks, testing for latency issues, and employing techniques like caching or data sharding. Share your experiences, tools you’ve used, and the impact your optimizations had on performance in previous projects.

Be ready to discuss specific projects where you utilized Spark, outlining use cases for data processing, analysis, or machine learning applications. Detail your familiarity with Spark's ecosystem, such as DataFrames, RDDs, and its integration into cloud platforms, demonstrating your expertise in maximizing Spark's capabilities in large data environments.

In this scenario, explain your design considerations for a low-latency API, such as the choice of protocols, data serialization methods, and how you would ensure rapid response times under heavy load. Provide examples from your experience where relevant, emphasizing performance metrics and client satisfaction.

Discuss the various strategies you prioritize in ensuring data security, such as encryption, access controls, and routine audits. Reference any relevant experience you've had in enforcing security protocols while maintaining efficiency in data processing, highlighting lessons learned from past challenges.

Share a specific instance where collaboration was key to problem-solving, detailing your role, the challenges faced, and the outcomes. Highlight the communication and project management strategies you used to unify the team’s efforts towards a successful resolution as a Staff Software Engineer.

Mention the resources you employ to stay updated, such as relevant blogs, online courses, conferences, or community involvement. Then explain how you apply new knowledge or technologies to your work as a Staff Software Engineer at Coupang, demonstrating your commitment to continuous learning.

Discuss your involvement in any machine learning projects, including the frameworks and algorithms you worked with. Explain how you collaborated with data scientists or cross-functional teams and the impact of your contributions on the overall project's success, relevant to the Staff Software Engineer role.

Share specific examples of how you've used AWS services in your previous roles, detailing how you managed infrastructure, deployed applications, or utilized cloud-native services for scalability and performance optimization. This insight will help illustrate your technical capabilities concerning infrastructure at Coupang.

Use this opportunity to connect your personal values and career aspirations with Coupang's mission and culture. Discuss how the company’s commitment to innovation in e-commerce resonates with you and why the Staff Software Engineer role is the perfect fit for your skills and passion for transforming customer experiences.