Engineering Manager - SaaS Groupware Product Development (Tokyo/Osaka)

★Engineering Manager | Featured Venture Company

• Japanese: Business Level Required (N2 Level)

◆ Location: Tokyo / Osaka

◆ Flextime & Hybrid Work

◆ Global Team

◆ Annual salary: 8 million yen - 15 million yen

-------------【About the company】-------------

The company is a manufacturer of groupware, a tool designed to foster teamwork through information sharing. They provide end-to-end service, handling everything from product planning and development to sales, operation, and support in-house.

The mission is to improve teamwork in organizations around the world. They develop groupware that supports thorough information sharing, smooth communication, and improves individual learning and satisfaction. Their products are used by a wide variety of organizations—including companies, local governments, universities, hospitals, and NPOs—to manage schedules, customer information, and other crucial business data. To date, they have contributed to improving teamwork for over 12 million users worldwide.

In addition to nine locations across Japan, the company has been expanding globally since it first entered Shanghai, China, in 2007. It has since grown into the United States, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, and now operates from seven international locations. The challenge to become "world number one" is truly underway.

■Groupware Business

The company develops, provides, and supports tools that foster teamwork through information sharing and communication.

■Main Products

・Cloud business application builder

・Groupware for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs)

・Groupware for large and medium-sized enterprises

・Shared email management system

-------------【 Job Description】-------------

【Overview】

The company's product is responsible for spreading teamwork around the world, embodying the corporate philosophy of "creating a society rich in teamwork." It is used by over 30,000 customers both domestically and internationally as a business improvement platform that supports all types of work for all types of people and organizations.

While the product is highly regarded in Japan as a B2B SaaS developed domestically, it is still just one of many startups on the global stage. There is still much work to be done to grow it into a globally adopted product. They need to enhance the value the product offers to compete domestically and globally, which includes features for anyone to easily create business apps with no-code/low-code, functions for developers to customize apps with programming, and communication features to promote information sharing within and across teams.

The Engineering Manager is responsible for driving the growth of product development and achieving the further scale-up of the organization. You will be involved in large-scale development activities within a product development organization that exceeds 100 members. As the scale increases, the importance of team alignment and connection to business strategy grows, making the role of the Engineering Manager ever more critical.

This team offers a challenging environment for an Engineering Manager, where you can autonomously run team operations aligned with the business strategy across both the organizational and business aspects.

The Engineering Manager role is broadly divided into three areas:

1) Team EM (Team Lead)

2) Cross-Application EM

3) Overall EM (Engineering lead for the entire kintone business)

To support the product's continued growth, the company is recruiting for new members across the Team EM and Cross-Application EM positions. These two roles have different scopes and responsibilities, offering opportunities that align with your specific skills and aspirations.

You will start as a team engineer, engaging in development work while deepening your understanding of the product, development processes, and the organization. Following this, you will transition into a manager or leader role for a development team (typically 3 to 10 members). The detailed scope of the work—whether you are a playing manager or purely focused on management—will be determined through discussion, based on your preference.

They welcome applications from those who resonate with the company's philosophy and are ready to contribute to development.

【Responsibilities】

1. Team EM (Team Lead)

The Team EM is the leader responsible for the execution of work within a specific development team. You will drive the team's development, taking ownership of the team's results from the perspective of business, technology, and team members. You may also take on a Project Manager role, driving projects that span multiple teams. You will handle partial people management, such as conducting 1-on-1s and providing career support (performance reviews are not included).

Your duties will include:

・Articulating the team's goals, roadmap, and strategy.

・Creating strategic documentation.

・Explaining the prioritization of tasks.

・Focusing on the team's development while collaborating with external parties, such as PdMs, designers, other teams, and Cross-Application EMs.

・Performing partial people management, such as 1-on-1s and supporting member careers and growth.

2. Cross-Application EM

This position is responsible for managing challenges and tasks that span multiple development teams. You will support technical decision-making and people management in collaboration with the Overall EM and Team EMs. Crucially, you will also be responsible for member evaluations, including salary and performance reviews.

Your duties will include:

・Managing challenges and tasks that cross multiple teams.

・Supporting people management in collaboration with the Overall EM and Team EMs.

・Driving technology and projects through collaboration with other departments, such as PdMs, designers, and the business side.

・Planning and implementing cross-team roles, organizational changes, and personnel assignments to improve overall cross-team activities.

・Conducting recruitment, onboarding, and performance reviews (salary and performance).

【Development Environment】

Frontend

- Language: JavaScript

- Frameworks/Libraries: Closure Library, React, Redux, styled-components

- Development Tools: Storybook

Backend

- Language: Java

- Framework: Spring Framework

- Database: MySQL

- Search Engine: Elasticsearch

- Application Monitoring: New Relic, Datadog, Kibana

Other

- Testing Tools: Jest, Mocha, JUnit, Selenium (Java)

- CI: GitHub Actions

-------------【 Requirements】-------------

【Required】

Empathy for the company philosophy of “creating a society brimming with teamwork”

Experience in web application development

Leadership or managerial experience leading teams of 3 or more members

【Preferred】

Experience in planning and implementing team strategies and initiative proposals

Experience in making comprehensive prioritization judgments and decisions based on cost-effectiveness from a medium-to-long-term perspective

Project management experience

Experience managing Agile or Scrum teams

Experience in recruitment, evaluation, and development within development organizations

--------------------------------------------------

【Working Time 】

Flextime System

【Welfare/Holidays】

Remote work allowance (5,000/month)

Employee stock ownership plan (company matches purchase of up to 10% of paycheck)

Skill development support/Language Learning Support (120,000 yen a year)

New tech gear

Book Purchasing

Commuter allowance

Comprehensive health and social insurance

Parental Leave

Relocation and Visa Sponsorship to Japan offered

20 days of paid leave

5 days of Proactive Personal Leave

5 days of Family Care / Personal Sick Leave

Two days off per week (Saturday and Sunday), Public holidays in Japan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------