Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Search & Discovery

Coupang; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 277,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus 0-20%

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life

AD&D insurance

FSA/HSA

Disability insurance

EAP program

401K with company match

PTO 18-21 days

Job summary

Coupang is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to design features and build large-scale ML models that improve search relevance, ranking, and personalized product discovery. You will handle billions of records, deploy real-time models, and work with state-of-the-art techniques to push the boundaries of the customer experience.

You will collaborate with product, engineering, and data science teams, mentor engineers, and drive initiatives across ranking, retrieval and multimodal learning in

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, statistics or closely related fields
• 4 years of professional experience in applied machine learning
• Experience in machine learning, deep learning, and statistical modelling
• Proficiency in Python and/or Java, with experience in building production grade ML systems

Responsibilities

• Design features and build large-scale machine learning models and systems to improve relevance, ranking, personalization and engagement
• Design and implement large-scale ML systems for search ranking, semantic retrieval, query understanding, and personalized product discovery using state-of-the-art techniques such as transformer-based models, contrastive learning, and vector search
• Drive innovation in search relevance and user intent modelling using large language models (LLMs), embedding-based retrieval, and multi-modal learning
• Build and optimise ML pipelines using tools such as Apache Spark, Airflow, Kubeflow, and MLflow, ensuring reproducibility, scalability, and operational excellence
• Define and track key performance metrics to evaluate model impact and identify highleverage opportunities for improvement
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and data science teams to align technical solutions with business goals and customer experience
• Mentor and grow engineering talent, fostering a culture of technical excellence, experimentation and continuous learning

Skills

Python

Java

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Production ML Systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/EE/Math/Stats

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Scikit-learn

Keras

XGBoost

H2O.ai

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.

Role Overview

The Search & Discovery organization is responsible for optimizing customers' navigation experience and driving long-term growth. Every week millions of customers use search in our app or on coupang.com, more than one third of them make purchases. Over half of the Coupang sales are directly attributed to search and recommendation. Many business initiatives and growth strategies are driven or boosted by ranking and recommendation.

This role is an opportunity to build scalable offline and online ML platforms to support ranking and recommendation, and business decision making. You will be handling billions of records of user interaction data, and petabytes of raw log files, and transforming them into data objects that can be easily consumed by engineers and scientists. You will also be responsible for serving complex ML models in real time to help millions of Coupang customers search and discover products. If you are passionate about big data engineering and scalable serving systems, you want to make real business impact, and you are a true problem solver, this is the right job for you.

What You Will do

• Design features and build large-scale machine learning models and systems to improve relevance, ranking, personalization and engagement
• Design and implement large-scale ML systems for search ranking, semantic retrieval, query understanding, and personalized product discovery using state-of-the-art techniques such as transformer-based models, contrastive learning, and vector search
• Drive innovation in search relevance and user intent modelling using large language models (LLMs), embedding-based retrieval, and multi-modal learning
• Build and optimise ML pipelines using tools such as Apache Spark, Airflow, Kubeflow, and MLflow, ensuring reproducibility, scalability, and operational excellence
• Define and track key performance metrics to evaluate model impact and identify high[1]leverage opportunities for improvement
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and data science teams to align technical solutions with business goals and customer experience
• Mentor and grow engineering talent, fostering a culture of technical excellence, experimentation and continuous learning

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, statistics or closely related fields
• 4 years of professional experience in applied machine learning
• Experience in machine learning, deep learning, and statistical modelling
• Proficiency in Python and/or Java, with experience in building production grade ML systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in relevant technical fields
• Experience with search systems, information retrieval or recommendation engines
• Experience with LLMs, embeddings, and vector search technologies
• Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform including services like Vertex AI, BigQuery or SageMaker
• Experience working in startup or high-growth environments
• Proven ability to lead-cross-functional teams and deliver results in a multicultural, global organization
• Hands-on experience with modern ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit[1]learn, Keras, XGBoost, LightGMB, and H2o.ai
• Experience with ML lifecycle tools such as MLflow, Kubeflow, Weights & Biases, or Amazon SageMaker
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and manage ambiguity in fast-paced environments

Pay & Benefits

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

The base pay for Staff position ranges from $152K/year to $277K/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 (HSA)
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program
• 401K Plan with Company Match
• 18-21 days of the Paid Time Off (PTO) a year