Global Procurement Strategy (Research Business) for Assistant Manager Candidate - Membership Strategy Section, Data Solutions Department, Rakuten Insight, Inc. (Secondment) (A&M)

Job Description:

Business Overview 

The Ad & Media Company provides advertising and marketing services, including digital advertising, market research, and influencer marketing. 

A key strength of the company is its ability to offer end-to-end solutions covering every aspect of marketing - from upstream strategic planning to downstream execution, such as ad operations, performance measurement, and data analysis. 

Our marketing-related operations encompass a wide range of businesses, including "Rakuten Marketing/LinkShare" (providing comprehensive digital marketing solutions), "Rakuten Data Marketing" (offering solutions that leverage Rakuten’s proprietary big data), and "Rakuten Insight" (providing market research services). 

This environment allows you to work within a core division of the Rakuten Group while fostering your own professional growth and career advancement. 

Department Overview 

Backed by the extensive resources of the Rakuten Group, Rakuten Insight Global provides online research services to companies worldwide. Operating as the global headquarters overseeing 11 locations across the globe, the company is aggressively driving expansion from Japan into international markets. 

Our greatest strength lies in possessing one of Asia’s largest proprietary panel data infrastructures; moving forward, we intend to accelerate the development of next-generation research products by fully leveraging this asset. 

To achieve further global market expansion, we are accelerating the growth of our network panels and intensifying strategic procurement efforts. This team serves as the core organization driving these initiatives. 

Position: 

Why We Hire 

As the demand for research in global markets grows, our reliance on "external panels" to complement our proprietary panels has increased year by year. However, our current method of individual, ad-hoc purchasing fails to optimize procurement costs, creating a factor that puts pressure on business profitability. 

We are now entering a phase where we aim to resolve these procurement inefficiencies and fundamentally overhaul our supplier strategy. We are seeking a manager candidate capable of leading "strategic sourcing" - an approach that goes beyond mere cost reduction to optimize the balance between quality and cost - thereby strengthening the medium - to long-term revenue foundation of Rakuten Insight Global. 

<Key Attractions> 

・Lead sourcing strategies that drive business profitability 

Sourcing costs and quality directly impact business profitability. You will have significant autonomy to handle everything from strategy formulation to negotiation and execution. 

・Career growth from sourcing strategy to business development 

After achieving results in improving existing sourcing operations, you can take on challenges such as automating API-based sourcing or launching new respondent supply models (aggregated panels) through partnerships with external services. 

・Leverage Rakuten’s extensive assets and technology 

You can create new sourcing mechanisms by utilizing the Rakuten Group’s assets and technologies, such as AI. 

・Access to one of Asia’s largest research panels 

You can design an optimal supply portfolio by combining our proprietary panels - among the largest in Asia - with external panels. 

Position Details 

You will lead the end-to-end process of external panel sourcing-from strategy formulation to execution - aiming to optimize the balance of cost, quality, and speed. 

While current operations focus on individual procurement per project, you will be responsible for building a "strategic sourcing framework" that achieves both cost reduction and quality improvement through data analysis and internal collaboration. 

<Key Responsibilities> 

・Analyze unit prices, usage volumes, and quality by supplier to optimize procurement costs 

・Supplier selection and evaluation (credit management, structuring terms of trade, Salesforce registration) 

・Negotiation and progress management of annual contracts with major suppliers 

・Establishing quality standards and quality control mechanisms for external panels 

・Developing procurement rules in collaboration with project operations staff 

<Medium- to Long-Term Initiatives> 

・Automating procurement processes via API integration 

・Conceptualizing and validating new respondent sourcing models through partnerships with external services (ecosystem providers, large-scale apps, etc.) 

<Stakeholders> 

Suppliers; internal departments for project operations, quality control, and development 

<Key existing suppliers> 

Cint, PureSpectrum, etc. 

・In-house panel: A respondent pool owned and managed by Rakuten, primarily consisting of Rakuten members 

・External panel: Respondent pools owned by other companies (research firms, partner companies) 

Work Environment 

<Team Structure> 

The Membership Strategy Department consists of 22 members. It is a global organization, with 13 members holding non-Japanese citizenship. 

<Team Demographics> 

A diverse age range spanning from the mid-20s to the early 40s. 

The group includes members with varied backgrounds, such as those responsible for data products for the domestic market and those who have handled operations design and implementation for overseas offices. 

Mandatory Qualifications: 

・At least 3 years of practical experience in procurement/purchasing, supplier management, or partner management 

・Experience negotiating terms and managing contracts with business partners 

・Experience identifying cost or quality issues based on numerical data and implementing improvement measures 

・Experience driving business improvements or projects involving multiple internal departments 

・Practical business English proficiency (for contract negotiations, meetings, and email/chat communication with overseas suppliers) 

Desired Qualifications: 

・Experience in sample sourcing or panel partnerships within the online research industry 

・Experience in media development within the advertising/ad network industry, or in managing pricing, quality, and allocation across multiple supply sources 

・Experience in supplier strategy within sectors such as e-commerce or travel 

・Experience in forming alliances or business development with platform or app companies 

・Experience participating from the business side in API integration or system implementation projects 

・Experience in team member development and management 

・Experience using Salesforce 

<Ideal Candidate Profile> 

・Possesses a strong sense of ownership; able to identify issues independently and take responsibility for seeing improvements through to completion 

・Able to drive initiatives forward by engaging stakeholders while personally handling negotiation and analysis tasks 

・Motivated to go beyond improving existing operations and take on the challenge of creating new supply models or businesses in the future 

・Able to adapt flexibly to change and act proactively 

Other Information: 

Additional information on Location 

Futako Tamagawa Rise Office 

2-21-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 

Additional information on English Qualification 

・English proficiency required 

・TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, etc. 

・Details will be provided if you proceed to 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/ 

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