Sr. Director, Agile Operations

Job Description:

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community.

Rakuten Advertising provides advertising technology and consumer insights to the world’s leading brands and retailers. Working with agencies and brands around the world, Rakuten Advertising unites technology, client strategy and consumer insights to deliver advertising experiences that drive increased brand awareness and marketing performance. With access to Rakuten’s diverse media properties and audiences, combined with an award-winning performance network and proprietary consumer research, Rakuten Advertising creates the right conditions to reach new customers and sustain long-lasting loyalty.

Job Summary:

Lead companywide operational adaptation aligned with company objectives to drive growth and operational efficiency by developing regional centers of excellence for offshoring and outsourcing initiatives.  Oversee major process transitions in close collaboration with Commercial, Product, Publisher, Operations, HR leadership to ensure seamless end-to-end execution and scaled utilization of the regional centers of excellence for offshoring and outsourcing. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement the resource transformation strategy and roadmap, including prioritization and quick wins to build momentum. 
• Lead cross-functional programs to redesign processes, deploy new resources, and enable resourcing transformation across business units. 
• Establish and run adaptive governance, including delivery roadmaps, and transparent status reporting to senior stakeholders. 
• Drive change management, communications, training coordination, and stakeholder alignment to embed new ways of staff resourcing. 
• Identify, monitor, and mitigate risks with clear escalation and remediation mechanisms to protect delivery scope, timelines, and outcomes. 
• Track progress against adaptation goals and value targets through metrics and regular updates on progress, risks, and prioritization. 
• Ensure use of approved tools/technologies while scouting and evaluating additional solutions as needed.

Collaboration and reporting

• Report to executive and partners with C‑suite, business, technology, and operations teams across the enterprise. Operate in a matrix structure coordinating multi-disciplinary teams across divisions and regions to align plans, manage dependencies, and deliver results. 

Success metrics

• Measurable improvements in operational efficiency (cost/head count), financial performance (Direct Margin, Indirect Margin), and customer outcomes (active MID count, NPS score), delivered through milestone execution of the transformation roadmap.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to:

• Manage Operational Workflows specific to the Affiliate Marketing Industry
• Manage Commercial Service and delivery operations in a Global Marketing context
• Engage and Manage Company Relations with Third Party Vendor Staffing Contractors
• Utilize Data and Analytics Tools
  • BI Platform Experience
  • Spreadsheet software skills (e.g. MS Excel, Google Sheets)
• Manage projects shared by multiple departments and varying high level stakeholders

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in business or a related analytical field; master’s preferred.
• 7+ years leading large, cross-functional projects/programs with demonstrated backlog management and strategic prioritization.
• Strong analytical and data skills with the ability to translate strategy into actionable plans and robust business cases.
• Proven change leadership with excellent interpersonal, facilitation, negotiation, and executive communication skills.