Staff Backend Engineer - IAM

Coupang; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Coupang is seeking an experienced Staff Engineer to lead backend engineering efforts focused on identity and access management for our next-generation AI cloud platform. You will guide the Identity team in building scalable authentication, authorization, and secure service-to-service communication across the platform.

This role drives modern IAM challenges, collaborates with global teams, and mentors engineers to foster ownership and excellence as Coupang scales its AI workloads.

Qualifications

• 10-12 years backend software engineering with 3+ years in engineering management.
• Strong backend development experience using Java or Python with REST API design.
• Hands-on experience with authentication and authorization technologies (OAuth2, OIDC, SAML).
• Solid understanding of identity systems including user identity and machine/workload identity.
• Experience with service-to-service authentication and distributed system security.
• Strong problem-solving and execution skills with ability to break down complex systems.
• Experience working in cloud environments (AWS preferred).
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a high-performing backend engineering team focused on identity and access management.
• Drive development of core IAM capabilities including authentication, authorization, and identity lifecycle management.
• Design and build scalable systems for user identity and machine identity management within a cloud environment.
• Work on modern authentication protocols such as OAuth2, OIDC, and SAML, and implement secure service-to-service authentication.
• Build and evolve authorization frameworks leveraging RBAC/ABAC models and policy engines (e.g., OPA).
• Partner with cross-functional teams to deliver secure, scalable infrastructure for AI workloads.
• Drive technical design, execution planning, and delivery of complex distributed systems.
• Ensure reliability, scalability, and security of identity systems as the platform scales rapidly.
• Mentor engineers and foster a strong engineering culture focused on ownership and excellence.

Skills

Backend engineering

Java/Python

OAuth2/OIDC/SAML

AWS

Leadership/management

Tools

REST API design

Job description

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.

RoleOverview

We are looking for an experienced Staff Engineer to lead backend engineering efforts specifically focused on identity and access management (IAM) for our next-generation AI cloud platform.

Coupang is building a platform designed to power AI workloads at scale. As part of this multi-year initiative, the Identity team is responsible for managing user and machine identities, authentication, authorization, and secure service-to-service communication across the platform.

This role will drive the development of foundational identity services that enable secure, scalable cloud infrastructure, handling hundreds of thousands of authentication events daily with rapidly growing scale.

Youwillhavetheopportunityto:

• Buildandscaleidentityandauthenticationsystemsforanext-generationAIplatform
• Workoncutting-edgeIAMchallengesincludingOAuth2,OIDC,service-to-serviceauthentication,andmachineidentity
• Operateandscalesystemshandling500K+authenticationrequestsdaily
• CollaborateacrossglobalteamsinIndia,US,andotherregions

WhatYouWillDo

• Leadandgrowahigh-performingbackendengineeringteamfocusedonidentityandaccessmanagement
• DrivedevelopmentofcoreIAMcapabilitiesincludingauthentication,authorization,andidentitylifecyclemanagement
• Designandbuildscalablesystemsforuseridentityandmachineidentitymanagementwithinacloudenvironment
• WorkonmodernauthenticationprotocolssuchasOAuth2,OIDC,andSAML,andimplementsecureservice-to-serviceauthentication
• BuildandevolveauthorizationframeworksleveragingRBAC/ABACmodelsandpolicyengines(e.g.,OPA)
• Partnerwithcross-functionalteamstodeliversecure,scalableinfrastructureforAIworkloads
• Drivetechnicaldesign,executionplanning,anddeliveryofcomplexdistributedsystems
• Ensurereliability,scalability,andsecurityofidentitysystemsastheplatformscalesrapidly
• Mentorengineersandfosterastrongengineeringculturefocusedonownershipandexcellence

BasicQualifications

• 10-12yearsofbackendsoftwareengineeringexperiencewith3+yearsinengineeringmanagement
• StrongexperienceinbackenddevelopmentusingJavaorPythonwithRESTAPIdesign
• Hands-onexperiencewithauthenticationandauthorizationtechnologies(OAuth2,OIDC,SAML)
• Solidunderstandingofidentitysystemsincludinguseridentityandmachine/workloadidentity
• Experiencewithservice-to-serviceauthenticationanddistributedsystemsecurity
• Strongproblem-solvingandexecutionskillswithabilitytobreakdowncomplexsystems
• Experienceworkingincloudenvironments(AWSpreferred)
• Strongstakeholdermanagementandcommunicationskills

PreferredQualifications

• ExperiencebuildingIAMsystemsincloudplatforms(AWS,Azure,GCP)
• FamiliaritywithPKI,certificatelifecyclemanagement,andsecureidentityframeworks
• Experiencewithauthorizationframeworks(RBAC,ABAC,OPA)
• ExposuretoKubernetesandcloud-nativearchitectures
• Experienceworkingonlarge-scaledistributedsystemshandlinghighrequestvolumes
• Backgroundinplatformengineeringorinfrastructureteams

Typeofworkmodel

• Hybrid/Onsite/Remoteworking

Our Hybrid work model: Coupang hybrid work model is designed to enable a culture of collaboration that acts a catalyst to enrich the experience of employees. Employees are required to work at least 3 days in the office per week, with the flexibility to work from home 2 days a week, depending on the role requirement. Some businesses may require more time in office due to nature of work.

Detailstoconsider

• Thoseeligibleforemploymentprotection(recipientsofveteransbenefits,thedisabled,etc.)mayreceivepreferentialtreatmentforemploymentinaccordancewithapplicablelaws.

PrivacyNotice

• YourpersonalinformationwillbecollectedandmanagedbyCoupangasstatedintheApplicationPrivacyNoticelocatedbelow.https://privacy.coupang.com/en/land/jobs/