Director of Backend Engineering – Security Infrastructure

About the role

The Identity, Access and Protection Infrastructure team secures all services and customer interactions at Coupang. As the Director of Backend Engineering for Security Infrastructure, you will lead the dynamic authorization effort, shaping strategy and execution across the organization.

Key responsibilities

• Hire top talent and shape a high‑performing team culture.
• Define and drive platform evolution through strategic roadmaps and company‑wide adoption.
• Align key stakeholders on deliverables and timelines.
• Partner with cross‑functional teams to uncover business and technical opportunities.
• Navigate technical and organizational complexities to balance strategic goals with immediate impact.
• Dive deep on high‑priority projects and lead by example.
• Contribute to company‑wide engineering initiatives.
• Inspire teams to raise standards in design, development, and operational excellence.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field (advanced degree optional).
• 12+ years of software engineering experience (or 10+ with an advanced degree).
• 5+ years of experience managing engineers.
• Proven track record designing and delivering large‑scale distributed systems.
• Recent hands‑on experience with security, IAM, or related technologies.
• Strong collaboration skills with cross‑functional teams to define mission, vision, and roadmaps.
• Ability to handle multiple competing priorities in a fast‑paced environment.

Required skills

• Security and Identity & Access Management (IAM)
• Large‑scale distributed systems
• Infrastructure as Code
• Kubernetes
• gRPC
• Istio
• Cryptographic key management