Job Description

Mission and attractiveness

Rakuten Group is one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer and business-focused services including e-commerce, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal & media, online marketing, and professional sports. Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit

Rakuten Marketing Cloud Platform Department’s mission is to lead Rakuten’s marketing related products strategy, execute product development and implementation. We empower Rakuten internal marketing teams by building engaging, respectful, and cost-efficient marketing platforms that put our customers at the center. Our main advantage comes from our ability to leverage the Rakuten Ecosystem. We provide marketing solutions such as marketing campaign management, multichannel communication, and personalization. 

Purpose / Goal / Reason 

With the expansion of our business, we are opening a Principle Product Manager position to accelerate our product growth with a specific focus on understanding unmet needs with our current portfolio, building the vision to create a strategic advantage and accelerate our growth.

Business outline, business details, stakeholders, business procedures, responsibilities, English usage situations, etc.

Strategic Leadership & Vision:

• Define and champion the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for our marketing suite, with a strong focus on competitive differentiation and market leadership.

• Conduct in-depth competitive analysis to identify product gaps, opportunities, and strategic advantages.

Product Planning & Execution:

• Lead the product planning process, translating market insights and competitive intelligence into actionable product specifications, user stories, and detailed requirements.

• Prioritize and manage the product backlog, ensuring alignment with business objectives, customer needs, and competitive pressures.

• Drive the entire product lifecycle from ideation to launch, iteration, and eventual sunsetting, with a focus on continuous improvement and optimization.

Stakeholder Management & Collaboration:

• Effectively communicate the product vision, strategy, and roadmap to key stakeholders, including executives, engineering, design, marketing, sales, and customer support.

• Build strong relationships with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless collaboration and alignment throughout the product development process.

• Navigate complex organizational structures and effectively influence decision-making at all levels.

Market & Customer Focus:

• Conduct thorough market research, competitive analysis, and customer interviews to identify unmet needs and emerging opportunities.

• Develop a deep understanding of our target audience and their evolving needs.

• Translate customer feedback and market insights into actionable product improvements and new feature development.

Financial Acumen & Business Impact:

• Develop a strong understanding of the product P&L and identify opportunities to drive revenue growth, improve profitability, and optimize costs.

• Strong passion for business growth, being customer and data
  driven, and “Get Things Done” mind set

• Track key product metrics and analyze performance data to identify areas for improvement and optimization.

• Make data-driven decisions and recommendations to maximize the business impact of the product.

Mentorship & Guidance:

• Serve as a subject matter expert and mentor to other product managers, providing guidance and support on product strategy, planning, and execution.

• Share best practices and contribute to the overall growth and development of the product management team.

This is a hands-on role. The candidate should be comfortable with deep research and analysis on the product, and not afraid to get into the details.

Work experience, Years of experience, Skill (Tech), Industry, Qualification etc. 

• 10+ years of experience in product management, with a strong focus on marketing technology (MarTech).
  
• Bilingual in both Japanese (JLPT N2) and English is preferred as you will need to liaise with both external and internal Japanese stakeholders.

• Proven track record of success in a startup or mid-sized company environment.

• Experience working in an enterprise environment, with a strong understanding of enterprise sales cycles and customer needs.

• Deep understanding of the marketing technology landscape, including AI, marketing automation, CRM, analytics, personalization, and advertising technologies.

• Experience with platforms such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Marketing Cloud, Braze, or similar enterprise-grade solutions.

• Ability to think strategically and develop a clear product vision and roadmap.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify key insights and opportunities.

• Ability to effectively communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Proven ability to build strong relationships with cross-functional teams.

• Ability to work effectively with engineering teams to deliver high-quality products on time and within budget.

• Strong understanding of financial metrics, including revenue, cost, and profit.

• Ability to analyze financial data and make data-driven decisions.

• Exceptional research and analytical skills to conduct in-depth product analysis.