In honor of International Women’s Day, Coupang showcases the accomplishments of seven female leaders and their contributions. Today, our leaders are consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to solve problems and break traditional tradeoffs. Through this series of three articles, we are spotlighting our female leaders who are achieving their career and helping others to do the same. Meet Debby and Lucy.
U.S. HR Director, Debby joined Coupang in 2021 to revise the Riverside Fulfillment Center’s business model, transitioning from a temporary workforce to one with a core permanent Coupang team. Her role is to support the finance team and Coupang Jikgu in ensuring the efficient delivery of U.S. brands and specialty items to Coupang customers in Korea and Taiwan. Debby spearheaded the creation of new HR policies, communication systems, recruiting processes, and employee relations infrastructure to make this transformation possible. Equally important was the team’s work hiring for continuous growth and building a leadership team who role models Coupang’s Leadership Principles.
As a result of these efforts, the U.S. Jikgu business has seen remarkable improvements over the past years. As the business rapidly grows, the operation has become more efficient and successful, thus validating the strategic approach taken.
D&I
The Riverside Fulfillment Center operates 24/7 with frontline workers, managers, and support teams. Reflecting the diversity of the U.S. as a melting pot, and sourcing candidates with various backgrounds is a critical part of the recruiting strategy. Debby believes that the more diverse the team is, the more likely they are to embrace the varying needs of global customers.
Debby also highlights the importance of the management team having deep understanding of D&I to motivate and retain the best people. The team experiences multiple cultural variations and communication differences in the workplace. They diligently work to recognize unconscious bias and address it head-on. Promoting inclusivity and understanding unconscious bias helps the U.S. team work better together and brings them closer to the customer. To help accomplish this, hundreds of learning hours and many development opportunities are invested in the management team to ensure they have as many leadership tools as possible.
Advice
She encourages women to advocate for others who struggle to have their voice heard. She emphasized the important role for leaders to reach within all levels of the organization to help others. As she has benefited greatly from mentors, she tries to be that resource to other new leaders. She enjoys being a support for them to find ways to balance a fearless voice to speak up with being an authentic and contributing member.
Debby, a working mother and a grandmother herself, recognizes the importance of maintaining work-life harmony and cherishing family time. While Coupang offers a supportive culture and benefits for family life, she stresses the need for parents to recognize and make the most of every opportunity available.
Lucy is a seasoned leader at Coupang, currently leading the E-commerce Engineering PMO team as a director in China. Her responsibilities involve close collaboration with engineering teams to drive critical business and tech initiatives across Coupang.
This year marks a milestone for Lucy as it signifies her 10th year at Coupang. She's celebrating the wealth of knowledge and challenges she gains throughout this journey. Lucy recalls her previous contributions as an engineer in launching the Rocket WOW membership program and revamping the Rocket Fresh user experience. Additionally, she led the initial launch for Coupang's Pre-Order service, setting the stage for its success.
Of course, Lucy acknowledges that her achievements wouldn't have been possible without her team and one of the most significant accomplishments is building up the PMO team from small team to larger group. Her vision for the team revolves around creating a culture of radical openness and transparency, where inclusivity and diversity are not just ideals but lived experiences.
D&I
Lucy takes pride in her team's composition, which includes TPMs and PMs from various backgrounds including QA, Data Analysts, Engineer and more, spanning different countries including China, Korea, U.S. India, German, Malaysia and more. Lucy is committed to nurturing the professional growth and development of her team members including female employees as the e-commerce engineering organization encourages everyone to explore different opportunities and innovations, think out of the box and keep learning from each other. So, she specifically encourages female fellow to be open-minded, to accept feedback constructively, not to fear making mistakes, to take retrospective and to rigorously follow principles while being open to iterations and improvements.
Advice
Lucy's advice to young female professionals is clear: never limit your potential, keep learning, and seek out good mentors who can guide you along the way. She believes they can learn by communicating mentor’s thinking framework, mindset and decision-making process. As Lucy looks towards the future, she remains dedicated to her mission of empowering innovation and inclusivity in E-commerce Engineering at Coupang.
Coupang is proud of our women who builds a diverse and inclusive workplace to improve our customers every day exponentially better. Join us in celebrating International Women’s Day and beyond by inspiring inclusion.
If you are interested in Coupang’s D&I, explore more on Coupang.jobs:
Coupang’s global female leaders spotlight series: Meet Silvia and Jessie
Employee stories |
To commemorate the upcoming IWD, Coupang showcases the accomplishments of 7 female leaders and their contributions through a three-part article series. We sat down with Sylvia and Jessie to ask about their role, insights and best piece of advice.
Employee stories |
Beyond IWD, Coupang continues to celebrate & honor the achievements and contributions of our female leaders. Meet SauYee, Mobile Engineering Manager for Coupang Play in Singapore, Cathy, Sr. BM in Hong Kong and Tracy, Sr. HR & GA specialist in India.
Employee stories |
Christina, a Product Management Director at Coupang, works hard to create the best customer experiences and defy barriers for bold innovation. We sat down with Christina to discuss Coupang’s culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.