Director - Backend Engineering - AI Infra

Key Responsibilities 1. Strategic Leadership & Fleet Orchestration Software-Defined Infrastructure: Lead the design and delivery of an SDN Orchestrator to automate complex GPU networking (InfiniBand/RoCE/NVLink) and core DC routing. Fleet Health Automation: Oversee the development of backend services for GPU Health & Fault Detection , automating the lifecycle from burn-in and diagnostics to global RMA workflows. Capacity & Traffic Engineering: Drive the backend logic for global traffic routing, load balancing (NGINX/Kong), and IPAM to ensure zero-bottleneck training environments. 2. Data & Storage Systems HPC Data Pipelines: Collaborate with storage engineers to build backend interfaces for Parallel File Systems (Lustre, Weka, VAST etc.) , ensuring high-throughput data delivery to compute nodes. Storage Durability: Direct the backend strategy for AI Object Storage, focusing on high durability and low-latency retrieval for massive datasets. 3. Engineering Excellence Scalable Architecture: Act as the final technical authority for AI Infra Architecture, ensuring systems are resilient, multi-region, and capable of sub-millisecond coordination. DevOps & IaC Culture: Champion a "Hardware-as-Code" mindset, utilizing Python, Ansible, and Terraform to eliminate manual intervention in DC operations. 4. Team Development Lead a multi-disciplinary org including Backend Developers, SDN Engineers, and Infra Ops teams, AI Infra Engineering Establish 24/7 L1/L2/L3 operational standards to maintain > 99.99% availability of the AI fleet. Required Qualifications Experience: 15+ years in Backend Engineering, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing complex infrastructure (Cloud, FinTech, or HPC). Deep Infrastructure Knowledge: Proven experience with Linux internals , hardware-software interfaces (drivers/firmware), and distributed systems. Networking Mastery: Solid understanding of L2/L3 networking , and ideally, specialized fabrics like InfiniBand or RoCE . The Stack: Professional proficiency in Python, Go, or C++ , and deep experience with Terraform, Kubernetes, and Ansible . Large-Scale Data: Experience managing high-performance storage backends (GPFS, Lustre, or equivalent parallel systems). Hardware Savvy: You don't just write code; you understand power envelopes, liquid cooling constraints, and GPU architecture (NVIDIA/HPE/Dell). Preferred Skills Experience building custom SDN controllers or orchestration layers from scratch. Direct experience with NVIDIA or GPUDirect technologies. Previous success in a "Hyper-scale" environment (AWS, Azure, GCP, Meta, AI Cloouds etc.). Recruitment Process Application Review - Phone Interview - Onsite (or Virtual Onsite) Interview – Offer The exact nature of the recruitment process may vary according to the specific job and may be changed due to scheduling or other circumstances. Interview schedules and the results will be informed to the applicant via the e-mail address submitted at the application stage. Details to Consider This job posting may be closed prior to the stated end date for application if all openings are filled. Coupang has the right to rescind an offer of employment if a candidate is found to have submitted false information as part of the application process. Those eligible for employment protection (recipients of veteran’s benefits, the disabled, etc.) may receive preferential treatment for employment in accordance with applicable laws. Privacy Notice Your personal information will be collected and managed by Coupang as stated in the Application Privacy Notice located below. https://privacy.coupang.com/en/land/jobs/