Staff Backend Engineer (Streaming and AI Infrastructure)

Coupang; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 282,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K Plan with Company Match

18-21 days of Paid Time Off (PTO)

Annual bonus up to 20% of base salary

Medical/Dental/Vision insurance

Job summary

Coupang is seeking a visionary Staff Software Engineer in Mountain View, California to lead the architectural design of a next-generation Real-Time Streaming & AI Platform. You will build a system capable of processing over 100k events per second with sub-second latency, ensuring high availability and leveraging AI for optimization.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in backend software development, particularly in Java and AWS, and experience with distributed systems. Competitive benefits include substantial bonuses and 18-21 days of PTO.

Qualifications

• 4 years of experience in backend software development.
• Expert-level experience in high-volume messaging systems.
• Demonstrated experience in building highly available, distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead the design of a distributed streaming engine.
• Ensure sub-second latency and 99.9999% availability.
• Integrate AI/ML models into stream processing.

Skills

Backend software development

Java

Spring Framework

Cloud environments (AWS)

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Tools

Cassandra

Kafka

TiDB

DynamoDB

Job description

Role Overview

As part of our Application Infrastructure org, this is a team building Coupang’s next-generation Real-Time Streaming & AI Platform that powers the end customer website and mobile apps.

We are looking for a visionary Staff Software Engineer to lead the architectural design of a platform capable of processing over 100k+ events per second with sub-second, end-to-end latency. This system will serve as the central nervous system for Coupang, enabling real-time product and customer data and instant personalization. You will build a system that doesn't just meet industry standards but sets them, ensuring 5-6 nines availability while leveraging AI to optimize data flows and automate complex system behaviors.

What You Will Do

• Architect for Velocity: Lead the end-to-end design of a distributed streaming engine. You will Build the Best Team and Help Them Grow by setting the gold standard for high-throughput, low-latency architectural integrity.
• Define Extreme Performance: Design for 5-6 nines (99.9999% availability) at a throughput of 100k+ events/sec. You will Dive Deep into JVM tuning, memory management, and network I/O to ensure sub-second latency across global clusters.
• AI-Driven Streaming: Integrate AI/ML models directly into the stream processing path. Implement predictive scaling and intelligent load balancing to ensure we Wow the Customer through seamless, real-time platform responsiveness.
• Solve Hard Problems: Address challenges related to distributed consistency, at times, exactly-once processing guarantees, and backpressure management. You must Be Data-Driven to validate architectural decisions against massive, bursty traffic patterns.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Electrical Engineering, Math, or a closely related field
• 4 years of experience in backend software development
• Proficiency in Java and the Spring Framework
• Experience working in cloud environments, particularly AWS
• Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining highly available, distributed systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Expert-level experience in Cassandra, TiDB, or DynamoDB
• Expert-level proficiency in Java and the Spring Framework
• Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining highly available, distributed systems in cloud environments (AWS)
• Experience with high-volume messaging systems (e.g., Kafka, SQS)
• Extensive Experience: 10+ years of professional software development experience building backend infrastructure that supports global-scale, real-time traffic
• Performance Expert: Proven track record of optimizing JVM applications for ultra-low latency (<100ms p99s) and high concurrency
• AI Integration: Experience or a strong architectural vision for using AI/ML to automate system-level functionality, such as real-time anomaly detection in data streams
• Distributed Systems Expert: Deep understanding of the CAP theorem, consensus algorithms, and building fault-tolerant systems from the ground up

Pay & Benefits

Our compensation reflects the cost of living across several U.S. geographic markets. At Coupang, your base pay is one part of your total compensation.

The base pay for this position ranges from $152,000/year to $282,000/year. Pay is based on several factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills and experience.

General Description of All Benefits

• Annual bonus is 0-20% of the base salary
• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life, AD&D insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) & Health Savings Account (HAS)Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program
• 401K Plan with Company Match
• 18-21 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) a year based on the tenure
• 12 Paid Holidays
• Paid Parental leave
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• 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 or wage scale.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Coupang is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or gender (including pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, transgender status), national origin, age, disability, medical condition, HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C status, marital status, military or veteran status, use of a trained dog guide or service animal, political activities, or affiliations, citizenship, or any other characteristic or class protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation in the recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at [e-mail].