Business Development / Project Lead (Marketing Solutions) - Platform Strategy Supervisory Department, Incubation Department (PFSD)

Job Description:

Business Overview

Rakuten Group serves approximately 100 million members in Japan and over 2 billion users across 30 countries worldwide, offering more than 70 services spanning e-commerce, fintech, communications, digital content, and professional sports.

Department Overview

This role sits within the Incubation Department (ICD), part of the Platform Strategy Supervisory Department (PFSD) - a corporate-level organization reporting directly to the COO/Executive Vice President.

Rather than operating a specific service, PFSD drives ecosystem growth strategy and marketing-led initiative execution across all of Rakuten's businesses. By working across multiple business units - from planning through execution - members develop a broad, enterprise-wide perspective and strategic mindset.

This cross-business remit is a distinctive feature of PFSD. Within PFSD, three teams play distinct roles: the Strategy Planning Department (SPD) leads company-wide strategy and KPI design; the Customer Strategy Department (CSD) drives the growth of existing ecosystem products; and the Incubation Department (ICD) is dedicated to creating new marketing initiatives from scratch.

PFSD operates as a professional team built around five core disciplines:

Challenge to innovate

• Customer oriented
• Concept driven
• Cross-functional
• Commitment to result

We believe that success comes from contribution - to our users, our clients, our colleagues, and society.

For more about the team: https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/division/customer_strategy/

Rakuten has set ambitious growth targets for its marketing solutions business. To achieve them, the Incubation Department is pursuing a revenue expansion strategy that combines multiple marketing assets - including points, advertising, coupons, data, AI, and Rakuten’s Okaimono Panda character IP.

Current initiatives include programs that drive user behavior change through Rakuten Points, as well as marketing solutions that combine points, advertising, and data to create value for both consumers and clients.

In this role, you will lead these initiatives end-to-end - from identifying business opportunities and designing business strategy, business models, and customer experiences, through internal alignment, validation, launch, and growth.

Position:

Why We Hire

Rakuten is entering a new phase in which it is combining its strengths in points, advertising, data, and AI to create integrated marketing solutions. Multiple initiatives are already underway, moving from planning and validation toward full-scale business development and growth.

We are looking for a business development / project leader who can own one or more of these initiatives and lead them end-to-end, from concept through execution and growth - leveraging Rakuten’s diverse assets and member base of approximately 100 million to shape the next growth model for the Rakuten ecosystem.

Position Details

• Conceive, plan, and design business models for new businesses and initiatives leveraging Rakuten's marketing assets
• Identify business opportunities based on consumer insights, business challenges, client needs, and data
• Define KPIs and business plans, and conduct hypothesis testing and PoCs
• Lead cross-functional teams comprising product, UX, marketing, sales, and data analytics
• Present proposals to senior leadership and drive alignment across multiple business units
• Evaluate performance, drive post-launch improvement and growth, and establish revenue models

Rather than serving as a specialist within a single function, you will own an entire initiative, connecting specialist teams and driving business outcomes.

What makes this role unique:H2

You will engage senior leadership and multiple business and specialist organizations to lead the launch and growth of projects that create impact across the Rakuten Group.

• Own the KPIs and business outcomes for your initiatives
• Engage in regular discussions with senior leadership on strategy and results
• Rapidly turn hypotheses into concrete action through iterative testing
• Leverage Rakuten’s diverse assets, including points, advertising, traffic, data, and brand

Work Environment

Assigned to: PFSD > Incubation Department

PFSD has approximately 70 members, with roughly equal gender representation and an average age in the early 30s.

More than half are mid-career hires from backgrounds including strategy consulting, tech, platform companies, startups, telecom, and content businesses.

The Incubation Department brings together members with diverse skills - initiative planning, marketing, data analysis, and project management - each operating with strong ownership while collaborating closely to drive programs forward. As a newly formed team, every member has the opportunity to be part of building the playbook from scratch.

In this role, you can build experience in:

• End-to-end business development and initiative leadership across multiple business domains
• Building businesses using large-scale customer bases, data, and assets
• Strategic discussions directly with senior leadership
• The complete cycle from 0→1 through strategy, launch, growth, and monetization

Potential career paths include project leadership, organizational management, and business leadership roles.

Mandatory

Qualifications:

• Native-level Japanese proficiency
• 3+ years of professional experience in marketing planning, new business development, business planning, or product planning
• Proven experience independently developing proposals, engaging multiple stakeholders, and driving execution through to measurable outcomes
• Experience evaluating and improving initiatives based on KPIs and business results
• Experience building alignment and driving projects across multiple functions or departments
• Desired

Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing revenue models or business plans
• Experience in data analysis using SQL, BI tools, or similar
• Background in product, advertising, loyalty programs, CRM, or platform businesses
• Experience presenting proposals and reporting to senior leadership
• Who We're Looking For
• Able to form hypotheses, validate, and move forward even in highly uncertain environments
• Able to translate abstract concepts into concrete business plans, customer experiences, and execution roadmaps
• Able to engage stakeholders with different areas of expertise and interests, and lead both alignment and execution
• Not just a planner - someone who takes accountability for business outcomes and drives continuous improvement
• Other Information:
• Additional information on Location
• Rakuten Crimson House
• 1-14-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
• Additional information on English Qualification
• TOEIC score of 800 or higher (or proof of equivalent English proficiency, or proof of a graduate degree or higher from an English-speaking university)
• Proof of qualification is required by the time of notification of offer.
• If you do not have a score or a certificate, we will guide you to the TOEIC IP test sponsored by our company during the selection process.
• Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Homepage Link
• ・

Benefits:

• https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/benefit/
• Recruitment Information: https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/information/ * Employment type is detailed
• Rakuten Culture: https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/culture/
• #business #serviceplanner #marketing #PR #producer #productmanager  #operationdiv