Rakuten - Associate - Business Strategy

Associate Business Strategy

Business Overview :

Rakuten Group Inc. has almost 100 million customers based in Japan and 1 billion globally as well, providing more than 70 services in a variety such as e-commerce, payment services, financial services, telecommunication, media, sports, etc.

Rakuten Symphony is chartered to spearhead the global adoption of cloud-native open RAN infrastructure and services, with a vision to provide a future-proven, cost-effective cloud connectivity platform.

Rakuten Symphony brings together all of Rakuten's telco products, services and solutions under a single global banner to offer 4G and 5G infrastructure and platform solutions to mobile network operators, enterprises and governments worldwide. Within Rakuten Symphony, the global Business Strategy & Innovation (BSI) team is looking to fill several positions on all levels (Associate to Senior Manager) to help us lead the way to the future of global telecom.

The BSIteam has the mission to identify and realize strategic business opportunities for Rakuten Symphony and improve decision-making for executive leadership on a global scale. The teamworks closely with the CEO to own,manage and communicate the overall corporate strategy and with business units to support them in building their product strategies across the entire business portfolio.

Job Description :

- Develop in-depth understanding of our platform vision, mission, products, and business models.

- Become a key member/manager of our global business planning or strategy management teams and work directly with the C-suite and senior executives to develop, communicate, implement and execute our corporate strategy.

- Facilitate our global strategy planning process by developing business plans and aligning goal setting & business performance management across all business functions.

- Conduct analysis at corporate, business unit, product and process levels, identify gaps and generate actionable insights for Rakuten Symphony leadership teams.

- Collaboration with global sales, marketing, finance, product management and engineering teams on key strategic initiatives.

- Plan and conduct internal and external analyses for Rakuten Symphony including trend & future market indicator screening, innovation and competitive analysis.

Rakuten Symphony Business Strategy & Innovation :

- Strategize and design new business models across the entire Rakuten Symphony products & services portfolio, identify synergies, simulate scenarios, derive recommendations and present findings to global leadership teams.

- Contribute to ad-hoc projects, and continuously automate/streamline processes to improve business efficiency.

Minimum Requirements :

- Depending on the level of the role, 5 - 15+ years of experience in management consulting, business or product strategy, business planning or entrepreneurship in the fields of telecom, connectivity, cloud, SaaS/PaaS with a top-tier management consulting firm, software-based company or tech startup.

- Experience in managing the strategy management lifecycle from strategy development and formulation to strategy implementation and execution in agile environments.

- Experience in managing projects, people and stakeholders across functions and leading business strategic and operational initiatives.

- Top-end strategic problem-solving and program delivery skills coupled with proven success in engaging in major transformation initiatives.

- Ability to think analytically and strategize about business, product, and technological challenges.

- Ability to drive simple, scalable solutions to difficult problems.

- Project-manage multiple workflows and communicate complex analytical results, both written and verbally.

- Business level communication in English is essential.

- Excellent skills in conducting business analysis / planning and presentation using Microsoft Power Point and Excel.

- Bachelor's degree in the fields of Tech, Business, Finance, Economics or a quantitative field.

- Ability to think outside of traditional industry boundaries combined with technological curiosity.

- Get-things-done mentality and the ability to think and act pro-actively by themselves.

- Self-starter with excellent communication ability.

- Person who can thrive in rapidly changing, fast-paced environments.

Preferred Requirements :

- Advanced degree/MBA from a leading business school.

- Advanced team management and leadership skills and ability to communicate and present to Sr. Management.

- Deep knowledge of the telecommunications industry, cloud solutions, SaaS/PaaS business models and ecosystems.

- Knowledge about software product strategy, management tools and processes.

Rakuten Symphony Business Strategy & Innovation

About Us :

Inclusive Team Culture :

Here at Rakuten, we embrace our differences. We are committed to furthering our culture of inclusion and diversity. We have several affinity groups connecting employees in over offices globally.

Work/Life Balance :

- Our team puts a high value on work-life balance. It isn't about how many hours you spend at home or at work; it's about the flow you establish that brings energy to both parts of your life. We believe striking the right balance between your personal and professional life is critical to life-long happiness and fulfillment. We offer flexibility in working hours and encourage you to find your own balance between your work and personal lives.

Mentorship & Career Growth :

- Our team is dedicated to supporting new members. We have a broad mix of experience levels, diversities and tenures, and we're building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship. We care about your career growth and strive to assign projects based on what will help each team member develop into a better-rounded professional and enable them to take on more complex tasks in the future.