AI Engineer - Search & Discovery

About The Role

AI Native, AI First Engineer to pioneer and architect entirely new applications where Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) serve as the fundamental core intelligence.

Located at the forefront of invention strategy, this role builds systems that are not just AI enhanced but AI-native from the ground up to deliver transformative customer and operational experiences.

• Design, architect, and own the full lifecycle of novel, end-to-end applications centered on generative AI and LLMs.
• Develop and manage production AI infrastructure, including vector databases, high-throughput inference, and real-time data pipelines for context enrichment and low-latency serving.
• Develop and maintain strong Retrieval-Augmented Generation frameworks, grounding AI applications in Coupang's proprietary product catalog, user history, and operational knowledge bases for factual accuracy and relevance.
• Implement advanced prompt engineering, agentic design, and complex LLM chains to build intelligent, stable software services.
• Enforce AI reliability, monitoring, and safety to manage model non-determinism, minimizing hallucinations and optimizing large-scale cost-efficiency.
• Rapidly prototype and product ionize new AI capabilities to drive innovation and advance Coupang's mission to build the future of commerce.

• 3 years of experience in software engineering, with solid coding skills and critical code review capabilities, and a deep specialization in leveraging LLMs and Generative AI systems and productivity tools.
• Strong product-led engineering mindset with the ability to bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI research and practical, user-centric product features.
• Proven experience owning end-to-end AI applications, including:
  • Generative AI agents and conversational interfaces.
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines.
  • LLM fine-tuning and optimization for specific domains.
  • AI-powered automation and workflow systems.
• Demonstrated track record of taking AI-first products from concept to production, driving measurable improvements in user engagement, operational efficiency, or system performance.
• Deep technical understanding of modern AI stacks, including:
  • Prompt engineering and LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., Lang Chain, Llama Index).
  • Vector databases and semantic search architectures.
  • Scalable MLOps for non-deterministic AI models.

• Experience in high-traffic, large-scale consumer AI environments (e.g., LLM-based assistants, search/recommendation systems, or generative content platforms).
• Experience leading or contributing to cross-functional AI research and product engineering teams.
• Experience building and launching 0-1 Generative AI products or integrating LLMs into existing complex product surfaces.
• Strong background in fast-scaling technology companies with a deep understanding of the challenges in deploying non-deterministic systems at scale.
• Passion for continuous experimentation and rapid prototyping to solve ambiguous customer problems using the latest advancements in AI/ML.
• Exposure/experience in e-commerce search.

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

The base pay for this position ranges from $184,000/year in our lowest geographic market to $376,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on several factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

• 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 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

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…