Software Engineer - EC Logistics Development Department (ECLD)

Job Description:

Department Overview

When you see the word "Rakuten," what most likely comes to mind are e-commerce services such as "Rakuten Ichiba," "Rakuten Books," and "Rakuten Fashion."

When you order a product through these services, it arrives at your home as if by course, every single day. But where and how are these products stored and managed, packed, and shipped before they reach your home? In fact, this part that you never directly see is the responsibility of the EC Logistics organization we belong to.

We operate a number of warehouses across Japan, where we store and manage products for "Rakuten Books," "Rakuten Fashion," and "Rakuten Direct," and handle operations such as inbound and outbound processing. We also offer a service called "Rakuten Super Logistics," through which we take custody of products from merchants on Rakuten Ichiba and perform the same product-related operations on their behalf.

What makes this entire chain of warehouse operations possible are the systems developed by us, the EC Logistics Development Department. If our systems go down, products purchased through e-commerce will not be delivered, and delivery ("last mile") is the one and only point of direct contact with the customer. Logistics may have a strong behind-the-scenes image, but it plays a crucial role.

While managing these systems close to the "front line (the warehouse)," we are also responsible for systems such as controlling the "estimated delivery date" shown on Rakuten Ichiba, "delivery status inquiry" from purchase history, and "delivery-related notifications."

In this way, we at the EC Logistics Development Department develop and operate the "logistics" that support the Rakuten Group as a whole, as well as the "systems" that support that logistics.

<The Mission of ECLD>

1. To realize services that let people get "what they want," "when they want it," and "where they want it," by leveraging logistics and IT.

2. To provide convenient logistics services and features to shopping users, so they can enjoy their shopping experience.

3. To support Rakuten Ichiba merchants in running their operations from the logistics side, and to contribute to maximizing their sales.

4. To contribute to the growth of Rakuten Ichiba through the expansion of the above logistics systems.

Position:

Position Details

We are hiring a prospective leader with strong communication skills who can proactively raise and drive the resolution of challenges within a diverse engineering team and organization. Depending on your preference, you may also be involved in development management work.

<Responsibilities>

This position is for an engineer to take charge of the business-logic development, system maintenance, and architecture improvement of the mainly API-centric data integration layer known as "Warehouse Gateway (WHGW)."

WHGW sits between the following two systems:

・ The Order Management System (OMS), which handles Rakuten users' order data (purchase information).

・ The Warehouse Management System (WMS), which manages the entire flow of products in the warehouse, including inbound, outbound, and inventory management.

WHGW occupies an indispensable position connecting these two systems, and is regarded as a critical system that must process a large volume of order information accurately and quickly every day.

To further develop this system and make it more stable, we are looking for a candidate who can become an engineering leader in the near future. You will mainly be responsible for the following:

・ Creating system requirements, functional requirements, and architecture requirements

・ Developing project plans and work plans; estimating personnel and equipment costs

・ Basic design; infrastructure and middleware procurement; log collection and management

・ Release planning and execution

・ System operations design, execution, and troubleshooting

・ Application development for high-load transactions, and design and execution of performance testing

・ Implementation (including code review)

Work Environment

Across the entire department, roughly 160 members are active, spanning both Japan and overseas.

The group you will belong to is an organization of about 10 members.

Many members join us with experience in software development as product managers or engineers, but most of them had no background in logistics and acquired the domain knowledge only after joining our department.

As our application platform, we primarily work with an in-house Private Cloud environment.

Mandatory Qualifications:

・ 5+ years of development experience using Java

・ Someone who has a bird's-eye understanding of what needs to be decided in requirements and design when building APIs and adding features

・ Experience participating in projects related to Public Cloud, or equivalent knowledge

・ TOEIC score of 800 or above

・ Experience using generative AI coding assistant tools

Desired Qualifications:

・ Knowledge of the logistics industry

・ Experience providing E-Commerce services (B2C, C2C, B2B2C)

・ Ability to facilitate meetings in English; business-level Japanese

・ Experience developing/mentoring engineers

・ Management experience

・ Experience introducing generative AI coding assistant tools into a team's development process

Other Information:

Additional information on Location

Rakuten Crimson House (Head Office)

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