QA Manager - EC Expansion Development Department (ECEXD)

Job Description: Department Overview The EC Expansion Development Department is guided by a mindset of building a lean and efficient organization, and delivers products and systems that continuously strengthen and expand e-commerce. In a fast-changing business environment, we actively leverage AI and other advanced technologies to deliver value at speed, growing as a team through ongoing challenges and continuous improvement. Among these, the Marketplace Expansion Development Section develops and operates services such as the J.League Online Store, Furusato Nozei (Hometown Tax), Rakken, and RAXY. Additionally, the team is responsible for launching new EC-related services with the goal of expanding and growing Rakuten's marketplace. This is a highly challenging department where you can gain unique and valuable experiences that are distinct to Rakuten. Position: Why We Hire We are seeking a QA Manager to lead our company-wide quality strategy, driven by the rapid growth of our product and engineering organizations, and to evolve quality assurance from traditional QA into Quality Engineering. In this role, you will be expected to combine strong technical expertise in software testing and automation with the ability to elevate QA processes through AI adoption and build a scalable quality organization that supports future growth. You will be responsible for building and strengthening the QA organization, as well as fostering a culture of quality, in order to accelerate business growth while maintaining high standards of product quality. Position Details 1. Quality Strategy & Governance - Define and execute the overall QA/Quality Engineering strategy - Design and continuously monitor quality KPIs - Identify, assess, and drive improvements for quality risks - Design and manage quality gates within the development process - Support Go/No-Go release decisions from a quality perspective 2. QA & Test Management - Review and approve test strategies and test plans - Oversee manual testing for critical features and workflows - Drive test automation and integrate it into CI/CD pipelines - Optimize various types of testing (functional, regression, integration, performance, UI/UX) - Analyze test metrics and quality data to improve processes 3. AI-Driven QA Transformation - Promote the adoption of AI technologies across QA processes - Automate test design and test case generation - Leverage AI for defect analysis and root cause investigation - Define and execute a roadmap to improve QA productivity 4. Cross-Functional Collaboration - Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, and Design teams - Partner with DevOps to enhance release quality and production stability - Align quality strategy with business objectives 5. Team Management & Organizational Development - Build, manage, and develop the QA team - Lead career development, performance evaluation, and coaching - Drive recruitment activities and manage external vendors - Design a scalable QA organization structure Mandatory Qualifications: Experience & Skills - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent experience) - More than 5 years of experience in software testing/Quality Engineering - Over 2 to 3 years of QA leadership or management experience - Experience in quality management for large-scale web services or platforms - Hands-on experience in designing and developing code-based automated tests and integrating them into CI/CD pipelines - Deep understanding of various testing methodologies (functional, regression, integration, performance, UI/UX, etc.) - Proven experience in defining and executing QA strategies and quality KPIs - Strong understanding and practical experience with Shift-Left and Quality by Design approaches AI & Technical Expertise - Hands-on experience using Generative AI in a professional environment - Experience leveraging AI to improve QA and development productivity - Solid understanding of LLM capabilities and limitations Leadership & Communication - Strong stakeholder management skills - Ability to effectively communicate quality risks to executive leadership - Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities - Business-level English communication skills Desired Qualifications: Technical/QA Domain - Experience in application development (e.g., Java, Python, TypeScript) - Experience in API and UI test automation - Experience in non-functional testing (e.g., performance, security) - Experience with automated visual regression testing - Experience in development and operations within cloud-native and CI/CD environments AI & Emerging Technologies - Experience using QA agents and AI-powered testing tools - Experience with AI coding assistants and prompt engineering - Experience leveraging AI for development and business process automation Domain Knowledge - Experience in the internet services industry - Knowledge of e-commerce and marketplace domains - Domain knowledge in areas such as payments, advertising, and cross-border e-commerce Ideal Candidate Profile - A self-starter who proactively identifies issues and drives solutions while engaging and influencing others - Naturally curious, with a strong desire to learn and the ability to keep up in a fast-changing environment - Excellent communication skills - Motivated to continuously improve and take on new challenges without settling for the status quo - A strong team player who is committed to delivering results Other - Experience working in global and multilingual environments - Experience using tools such as Jira, Confluence, and GitHub Actions - Experience managing organizations of 10 or more members Other Information: Additional information on Location Rakuten Crimson House (Head office) Additional information on English Qualification TOEIC Score exceeding 800 (or similar level of English ability) or a University Degree earned in an English-speaking country. Proof of qualifications will be required by the time of the job offer. If no evidence is available to prove the qualifications denoted above, taking an IP test, organized by Rakuten, during selection process is required. Rakuten Group, Inc. Homepage Link - Benefits: - Rakuten Culture: #engineer #applicationsengineer #commerce Languages: Japanese (Overall - 4 - Fluent)