How Does Coupang Turn Expectations into Certainty?

Could you briefly introduce yourself and your career journey so far? 

I'm Naush Hafeez, Regional Director of Fulfillment Operations at Coupang. It’s been a year since I joined Coupang. My path has been building operations at scale across very different markets. I started in education working at "Teach For America” and doing a Fulbright in Malaysia, which shaped how I think about people and development. I then spent 6-years at Amazon, eventually serving as the Country Manager for Saudi Arabia, where we scaled the business from launch to over a billion dollars in annual sales. I joined Coupang last summer and have been adapting to running one of the most demanding fulfillment networks in the world.

What brought you to work in Korea, and specifically at Coupang? 

Coming to Korea combines hard operational problems with genuine personal growth.

After scaling Amazon's business in Saudi Arabia, I wanted a network at a different stage of intensity and Coupang reached out. Few companies anywhere move at this speed or hold themselves to this delivery standard. Korea is a highly competitive market, and it comes with its own unique nuances. The chance to operate at the heart of Korean e-commerce, serving the entire market every day, looked like an interesting challenge for me.  

Personally, my family was ready for a new chapter, and Seoul has been a remarkable place to live and raise our children. A fun fact about me: most members of my family were born in a different country. My wife and daughter were born in Pakistan, I was born in the UK, one of my sons was born in the US, and the other in Saudi Arabia. So we’re quite a unique global mix, which made us even more excited about coming to Korea.

Can you briefly describe your current role and responsibilities as an Region Director?   

I lead a region of fulfillment centers with over 5,000 team members. I’m on-site every day, staying close to operations and the teams on the ground. I make it a point to visit all locations at least once a month, with more frequent—typically weekly—visits to the larger sites. My core responsibility is to deliver on safety, quality, cost, and speed goals across all sites. I drive performance through a structured operating rhythm—daily and weekly metric reviews, site visits, standardizing processes across sites, and developing FC Managers, OMs, and AMs who fully own their numbers. My focus is on building systems and people that make excellent execution repeatable, so performance holds even as volume grows.

I place a strong emphasis on leadership development, ensuring that area managers and operations leaders have a clear path for growth in the field. One of the core values I reinforce across the team is continuous learning. Whether you’re a frontline associate or a site leader, there’s an expectation to keep learning every day—both to grow individually and to move the organization forward together, where we focus on professional development, spend time on the floor auditing processes, and discuss key business priorities. Building a consistent cadence around continuous learning—for both individuals and teams—is critical for success.

How would you compare your experience at Amazon with Coupang? What are the similarities and differences? 

Both are obsessed about customer and operational rigor, so the companies are similar in being very metrics-driven, maintain high standards, and keep a strong bias for action. The biggest difference I’ve experienced is in speed and integration. 

Amazon is a vast global machine with deep, mature playbooks. There’s an SOP for nearly everything, with a strong emphasis on operational rigor and discipline. Coupang is still maturing and iterates faster; decisions that might take weeks elsewhere happen here in days. It’s more inventive and open—there’s a constant focus on rethinking how things are done and quickly solving problems.

Being nimble allows Coupang to deliver a customer experience that's genuinely hard to match given its size and scale. Although Amazon taught me operational discipline, Coupang has shown me how quick decision making can drive impact.

Another key strength, beyond innovation, is the talent we bring in. We attract highly capable people from all over the world, with a wide range of backgrounds. The combination of global expat talent and strong local expertise creates a unique fusion—it’s a very hybrid and distinctive leadership culture.

What were the biggest challenges you faced when you first started working in Korea? 

The biggest adjustment was communication style. I arrived used to direct, fast debate. Here, much of the most important context is communicated more indirectly and through relationships built over time. Early on I had to slow down, listen more, and earn trust before pushing change. The language barrier meant I leaned heavily on building a strong listening culture. However, what started as a challenge became one of my biggest sources of growth — I'm a far more patient and observant leader now, and the relationships I built by adapting have made the team stronger and more candid with me.

On a side note, I’ve been taking Korean lessons to help ease the language barrier, although it hasn’t been easy. I find myself constantly saying annyeonghaseyo and gamsahamnida—and honestly, if you know how to say hello and thank you, you’re already halfway there.

How would you describe your leadership style? 

I'd describe it in three words: standards, ownership, and development. I set a high, clear bar and hold it consistently, but pair that with giving leaders real ownership of their areas rather than simple management.

I also invest heavily in developing people, which has been shaped by being a certified Amazon Bar Raiser and my earlier years in education. My experiences have really pushed me to maintain a high and consistent standard for what good looks like. I focus heavily on reinforcing both ownership and high standards—making sure the expectations are clear, consistent, and truly owned by the team. It’s not just about setting the bar, but about ensuring everyone is aligned on how we reach it. My goal is to build teams that can run their operations effectively day in and day out, even when I’m not in the room—which, at my level, is often the case. The impact of people development is demonstrated when an OM solves a problem I never hear about, because they understand the standards, feel empowered, and have developed the capability to handle it themselves. That requires strong ownership and a shared understanding of the bar across the organization.

For example, I worked with one site leader who initially tended to push back on changes. We spent time understanding the root cause of those concerns and realized that it largely came down to a preference for a specific way of working. Over time, we focused on helping him see the value of change—not just for the business, but for his own growth. One practical step was having him build a peak-day training tracker and create a clear simulation plan for peak operations. That structure made a real difference—peak days became much more predictable, with no major misses. Now, he proactively shares his plans with me first.  

It’s been great to see that mindset shift—from resisting change to recognizing that change can drive better outcomes—which ultimately led to both individual and operational growth.

Could you share an experience where you were able to collaborate effectively while working with a Korean team? 

One area where we did very well in collaborating is on 5S improvements. I set a goal for us to help standardize 5S within our sites. When we first looked at our sites, we had to establish a clear baseline for where we stood on the 5S cycle. In many cases, the fundamentals were missing—not because they were complex, but because they hadn’t been prioritized. We prioritized 5S by working towards standardization. Think of standardizing 5S in a fulfillment center as simplifying warehouse operations so that everything in the site has a proper location. When every single barcode scanner, cart, and roll of tape has a designated, labeled home, everything has a place and can be found with speed and safety in mind.  

This level of consistency takes all of the tribal knowledge locked in the sites and turns it into clear, repeatable habits everyone can follow. If a packing station is messy or a tool goes missing, it now becomes something we can instantly notice. Working with the Site Leaders to improve 5S at their sites has improved the overall health of these sites. Ultimately, 5S gets everyone on the same page, ensuring everything has a location, and improves overall site culture.

What kind of leadership do you expect from your FC Manager, OM, or AM? 

Three things—ownership, leadership presence, and leadership development.

On ownership— treat your FC as if you truly own it and approach every problem as your own. Alongside that, it’s critical to establish the right standards and make sure they’re clearly understood and consistently applied. 
For, leadership presence: real leadership in operations happens on the floor with the team, not just in a meeting room. I make a point of spending time on the floor at our fulfillment centers—not just to review standards like 5S, but to see firsthand how operations are running. It reinforces the importance of being close to the work and staying connected with the team. This is especially important in Korea, where there’s a strong cultural emphasis on visible leadership. People genuinely value it when leaders take the time to engage, both formally and informally.

Developing the leadership layer below you is critical for organizational success, so the bench keeps getting stronger. I invest time working directly with my leaders, but just as importantly, I expect them to do the same with their own teams. That cascading approach is what truly builds a strong organization. When a manager has these, you see it in the numbers — engaged associates, stable performance, problems solved before they reach me. When they're missing, no amount of process fixes it. I'd rather have a leader with strong ownership and average tenure than the reverse.

What advice would you give to other foreign leaders working in Korea? 

Come with humility and patience. Your past success doesn't transfer automatically—You have to be willing to relearn and re-earn the credibility you’ve built over time. 

Invest early in relationships; trust is the currency that makes everything else possible here, and it's built over time through a regular cadence. It’s something you have to be intentional about developing and sustaining.

Learn how communication actually works—a lot is conveyed indirectly—and work through the language challenges. It’s important to understand how communication works, especially with language and cultural differences. Resist the urge to immediately "fix" things your way; understand why the current system exists. Taking the time to understand how things operate and genuinely listening before making changes is often far more effective. Lead with curiosity and fix problems as best you can.

For many people, a common approach—especially in Korea—is to bond by going out together, sharing meals and drinks. That has traditionally been an important way to build relationships.

For me personally, that hasn’t been the primary approach. I don’t drink, and I have some dietary restrictions, so while I do join team meals, I’ve focused more on spending dedicated, meaningful time with my leaders. Every time I visit a site, I make sure to carve out one to two hours to spend with the site leader—sometimes even longer. On a recent visit, a Site Leader and I spent three hours discussing a range of topics. The depth and openness of that conversation really reflected the level of trust we’ve built.

What I’ve found is that while social settings can help, they’re not the only way to build trust. It’s ultimately about connecting in an authentic way—being present, giving your time, and truly listening. I also create other opportunities to build connection, like hosting monthly leadership summits where we celebrate milestones and birthdays together.

What have you learned the most from working at Coupang? 

Two things stand out. First, Coupang moves fast and has shown me how much an organization can achieve when it removes friction and lets people decide and act fast. It has reset my sense of what's possible on a tight timeline. Second, operating across cultures has made me a more complete leader: I listen more, assume less, and adapt my approach to the person and context in front of me. Together, those have made me both more decisive and more humble — a combination I didn't have earlier in my career, and one I'll carry forward.

What message would you like to share with candidates who are considering joining Coupang? 

Coupang will stretch you — the pace and standards are real — but you'll grow fast and change.  

One of the things that stands out about Coupang is the ability to move fast and drive real change. If you come here, you have the opportunity to make a direct impact on people’s everyday lives in Korea—our products reach customers’ doorsteps every single day. It’s quite unique to see how a large organization can operate at that speed while still delivering meaningful impact in what is, relatively speaking, a short period of time.

The people who tend to thrive in this environment are those who are adaptable, open to change, and comfortable moving quickly. It’s not about sticking to one fixed way of operating. For example, I might start the week with a clear plan of where I’ll be, but that can shift quickly—one day I’m at one site, the next I’m covering two different locations. No two weeks—or even days—look the same.

Being comfortable with that level of dynamism is essential. It’s something you have to embrace if you want to be successful here. Come curious and ready to learn, stay humble, and own your impact.