---
title: 'Senior Director, Global Payroll and Equity Administration at Coupang'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-global-payroll-and-equity-administration-coupang-seoul-z49rydskcwj2'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Senior Director, Global Payroll and Equity Administration at Coupang

- **Company:** Coupang
- **Location:** Seoul, South Korea
- **Posted:** 2026-06-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://www.coupang.jobs/en/jobs/?gh_jid=7998444

## Job description

What The Role Is:

The Senior Director, Global Payroll and Equity Administration will lead worldwide payroll and equity strategy and operations across all countries where Coupang operates. Sitting at the intersection of operational excellence and product innovation, he/she will lead a global team, ensure accurate, timely, and compliant processes, serving as the functional "product owner" to partner with internal tech and engineering teams to build a world-class payroll and equity infrastructure to support Coupang’s global ambitions.

What You’ll Do:

- Strategic Payroll & Equity Architecture & Leadership: Design, build, and execute Coupang's global payroll and equity strategy. Shift the function from a reactive operations group to a proactive, tech-driven strategic partner, ensuring the infrastructure scales into a unified, customized global platform alongside Coupang’s global business objectives.
- Payroll and Equity Operational Leadership: Lead the construction and scaling of the frameworks for end-to-end payroll processing and best-in-class equity administration (including stock options, RSUs, and performance-based awards) for all global Coupang entities. Partner with HR and Legal to design and implement modern global equity programs capable of supporting the company’s strategic goals.
- Process Transformation & Optimization: Act as the primary change agent to identify systemic bottlenecks and completely re-engineer payroll and equity processes. Applying first-principles thinking to craft and design new payroll/equity systems and processes in order to optimize and establish forward looking KPIs that measure transformation rather than just steady-state maintenance.
- Compliance & Risk Architecture: Design, build, and audit robust internal controls globally. Ensure multi-jurisdictional tax logic, labor compliance, and equity regulations are engineered directly into the DNA of our payroll/equity organization.
- Vendor Strategy & Ecosystem Management: Rationalize, consolidate, and manage global relationships with existing external payroll and equity providers. Ensure partners are fully aligned with Coupang's technological requirements, driving maximum value and holding them to strict service level agreements (SLAs).
- Team Leadership: Build, lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing global payroll and equity team. Actively cultivating a “builder” mindset across the organization, fostering a culture that balances rigorous operational accuracy with continuous innovation.
- Data Architecture & Predictive Analytics: Build out the data infrastructure required to deliver regular, actionable insights, cost-trend analysis, and key transformation metrics to senior leadership in Finance, Legal, HR, and IT to align with broader corporate milestones.

Who You Are:

- Educational Foundation: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Global Payroll and Equity Scale Expertise: 15+ years of progressive experience in payroll and equity administration, with a proven track record navigating highly complex, high-volume, multi-country environments across large-scale, publicly traded organizations.
- Proprietary/Custom System Delivery: Proven experience acting as the functional owner or key strategic partner in building custom, proprietary, or deeply bespoke internal payroll/equity software from scratch, rather than simply managing off-the-shelf SaaS implementations. Act as the functional "product owner," bridging the gap between payroll/equity compliance and internal engineering/IT teams to design automated, highly scalable system architecture.
- Geographic Regulatory Expertise: Deep operational and compliance expertise across multiple global geographies, with a strong emphasis on Asia-Pacific and North America markets.
- Executive Stakeholder Influence: Elite communication and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to align and influence cross-functional executives and teams.
- Language Proficiency: Fluency in written and spoken English, with proficiency in a Korean a plus.

## About Coupang

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Coupang is a global technology and Fortune 150 company that reimagines commerce by integrating e-commerce, logistics, last-mile delivery, restaurant delivery, video streaming, and fintech services to wow customers.
- **Entity Type**: Public (NYSE: CPNG)
- **Headquarters**: Seattle, Washington, USA (global HQ); operates major hubs in Seoul, South Korea, and other locations.
- **Founded**: 2010
- **Founders**: Bom Kim (Bong-Seok Kim)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: E-commerce, Logistics & Fulfillment, Retail, Food Delivery, Fintech, Content Streaming, AI-driven Commerce.
- **Target customers**: B2C (primarily consumers in South Korea, with growing global operations including Taiwan, Singapore, and the U.S.).
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "We exist to wow our customers. We know we’re doing the right thing when we hear our customers say, 'How did I ever live without Coupang?'"

## Products & Services
- **[Coupang (Rocket Delivery)](#)**: Core e-commerce platform offering millions of products with over 99% of orders delivered same or next day via a proprietary logistics network. Includes Rocket Fresh (groceries) and Rocket Now (ultra-fast delivery).
- **[Coupang Eats](#)**: Restaurant food delivery service.
- **[Coupang Play](#)**: Video streaming service (original content, sports, and licensed shows).
- **[Farfetch](#)**: Global luxury fashion platform acquired by Coupang.
- **[Coupang Fintech](#)**: Payment and financial services (e.g., Coupang Pay, credit card partnerships).
- **[Coupang Logistics & Fulfillment Services](#)**: End-to-end logistics for third-party sellers and brands.
- **[Rocket Growth](#)**: SaaS-like tools and services for sellers/suppliers to manage inventory, analytics, and advertising.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: ~$25.8 billion (as of mid-2026) [LinkedIn].
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue of **$34.5 billion** (most recent fiscal year) [LinkedIn].
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Publicly traded on NYSE (institutional investors include SoftBank, BlackRock, Fidelity, and others). Key partners include major global brands and local Korean suppliers.
- **Growth Signals**: 
    - Ranked **#132 on the 2026 Fortune 500**, jumping significantly [investor relations].
    - Rapid AI-driven global commerce expansion (e.g., Taiwan, Singapore, and U.S. tech hubs).
    - 5,940 employees (linkedIn data, with monthly headcount growth of +1.1% and quarterly job posting growth of +154.2%).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Fully Integrated Infrastructure**: Coupang owns and operates over 100 fulfillment and logistics centers (covering tens of millions of square feet) combined with proprietary software, AI, and machine learning to predict demand and route deliveries — a moat that competitors in Korea and emerging markets find hard to replicate.
- **Speed & Reliability**: Over 99% of orders delivered same or next day (including dawn delivery) 365 days a year, setting a bar that most global e-commerce players cannot match.
- **Customer Obsession Culture**: "Wow the Customer" is a core leadership principle, driving constant innovation to break traditional tradeoffs (speed, selection, price).
- **Startup Culture with Fortune 150 Resources**: Offers the agility and risk-taking of an early-stage company combined with the stability, compensation, and scale of a large public corporation.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI & Technology Leadership**: Heavy investment in AI/machine learning for demand forecasting, dynamic routing, and customer personalization. Actively hiring senior ML and data engineers [careers page].
- **Global Expansion**: Leveraging its Korean infrastructure playbook to enter new markets (Taiwan, Singapore) and grow its global footprint.
- **Diversification into Fintech & Content**: Building out Coupang Pay, Coupang Play, and fintech products to create an ecosystem (similar to Amazon Prime's strategy).
- **Farfetch Integration**: Turning the luxury fashion platform into a global growth driver.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: "Best of both worlds" — startup energy (fast decision-making, ownership, risk-taking) with the resources of a Fortune 150 company. Flat hierarchy, open culture, and a strong "bias for action" ethos [coupang.jobs].
- **Remote/Hybrid/Office Policy**: Flexible working hours and work-from-home options are available. Many roles are based in offices (Seattle, Mountain View, Seoul, etc.) with state-of-the-art amenities including cafeterias serving three meals a day, lounge spaces, and coffee/snack bars.
- **Benefits**:
    - Medical insurance for employee and direct family.
    - Paid family leave (for celebration or bereavement).
    - Learning programs (foreign languages, soft skills).
    - Global project opportunities (collaborate with teams across continents).
    - Team and company events (games, food, bonding).
- **Engineering Culture**: High-impact projects — building the commerce infrastructure of the future (large-scale AI, logistics optimization, mobile-first, search & discovery). Emphasizes "Hire and Develop the Best" and "Learn & Iterate" principles.
- **Career Growth**: Opportunities for internal rotations, upskilling, and taking on entrepreneurial initiatives within a massive scale.

## Sources
1. [Coupang Careers](https://www.coupang.jobs/en/)
2. [Why Work at Coupang](https://www.coupang.jobs/en/why-coupang/)
3. [Coupang About Us](https://www.aboutcoupang.com/aboutus/)
4. [Coupang Investor Relations](https://ir.aboutcoupang.com/overview/)
5. [LinkedIn - Coupang](https://www.linkedin.com/company/coupang)

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