Product Manager (manager Candidate) - Backoffice Business Support Section,business Support Development Department (BSD)

Manager of Product Managers

Rakuten Group, headquartered in Japan, serves approximately 100 million customers in Japan and over 1 billion globally. We offer more than 70 diverse services across various sectors, including e-commerce, payment services, financial services, communications, media, and sports.

The Business Support Development Department is responsible for various applications that support the operations of business staff across a wide range of Rakuten Group businesses, including Rakuten Ichiba and Rakuten Travel. Our section provides a diverse suite of systems that strongly support key internal operations across various Rakuten businesses, including sales, customer support, contract management, and fraud prevention. Specifically, this includes SFA/CRM for sales teams, operational tools for customer support operators, user inquiry chatbots, fraud order monitoring systems, and contract management systems for merchants. These systems also incorporate initiatives that leverage cutting-edge technologies such as AI to pursue operational efficiency and sophistication.

To hire for backfill. For this position, we are seeking a Manager of Product Managers who will be responsible for overseeing a multi-domain product portfolio and managing the team.

As a Manager of Product Manager, you will be responsible for multiple system domains, including sales, customer support, contract management, and fraud prevention. Your duties will include the following:

• Developing and managing the overall product portfolio strategy for the assigned domain, and overseeing the roadmap.
• Strengthening collaboration with cross-domain stakeholders and promoting overall optimization.
• Organizational and people management for the Product Manager team (e.g., goal setting, evaluation, development, recruitment).
• Actively identifying issues in the assigned product, analyzing data, setting KPIs, defining requirements, and creating roadmaps in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Prioritizing feature development based on strategy and releasing features at the appropriate time.
• Improving services based on customer feedback and data.
• Exploring the potential for leveraging advanced technologies like AI, and proposing ways to improve operations and create new value.
• Guiding the team to adjust project goals and achieve a sufficient level of quality.
• Collaborating with cross-functional PDMs/PJMs, and internal PJMs and engineers to control project scope, budget, and release timing.
• Enabling smooth communication among team members and providing timely updates on status, issues, risks, and performance to management.

Our section's PDM (Product Manager) and DEV/PJM (Development / Project Manager) teams collaborate to develop and operate the aforementioned cross-business operational systems. We are also actively engaged in introducing and utilizing AI technologies, aiming to realize a smarter operational environment. This role will manage a team of approximately 5-10 Product Managers. Since our offices are distributed across Tokyo, Osaka, and Sendai, remote communication may be required depending on the service.

Mandatory Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience as a Product Manager or in a similar role (including 3+ years of management experience)
• Experience managing a multi-domain product portfolio
• Ability to analyze business requirements and translate them into system definitions and system designs
• Ability to identify issues in assigned products and propose solutions
• Excellent communication skills
• Experience in organizational management and people management
• Business-level English communication skills

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in planning and developing systems utilizing AI/machine learning and data science
• Experience in system development and product development
• Experience in roles with accountability
• Experience in improving internal operations
• Experience in data analysis using BI tools

Additional Information on Location:

Rakuten Crimson House, Tokyo

Languages: English (Overall - 2 - Intermediate), Japanese (Overall - 3 - Advanced)