Retail Project Manager/Extended Reality (Japan)

Job description

About ZEISS The ZEISS Group traces its origins to 1846, when founder Carl Zeiss established a precision mechanics and optics workshop in Jena, Germany. What began as a small workshop has grown into a global leader in optical and optoelectronic technology. In Japan, ZEISS has been a trusted partner since 1911. Today, Carl Zeiss Co., Ltd. operates with approximately 400 employees across five locations, delivering cutting-edge solutions and dedicated service to customers nationwide. ZEISS Japan serves as a strategic partner across diverse industries—including semiconductors, automotive, mechanical engineering, biomedical research, and medical technology. We are also a leading manufacturer of eyeglass lenses, camera lenses, and binoculars, bringing precision optics into everyday life. Role & Responsibilities The Extended Reality Product & Marketing Manager is responsible for the localization and translation of global XR solutions into a clear market offer, a strong local customer experience, and effective commercial execution in the market. The role connects global XR strategy with local implementation by aligning cross-functional stakeholders, supporting rollout readiness, and driving adoption across online and offline channels. Lead or support go-to-market planning, including launch readiness, channel activation, system set-up, marketing coordination, and cross-functional execution. Conduct market, customer, competitor, and operational analysis and identify adoption barriers, localization needs, market constraints and operational gaps Translate market insights into recommendations for product roadmap, commercialization priorities, and market improvement actions Develop and adapt product positioning, messaging, and value propositions for the local market in alignment with the global XR team Align cross-functional local stakeholders, including sales, marketing, operations, commercial, customer service, and regulatory Local project management for market enablement incl. tracking readiness, launch progress, and execution qualit y Lead coordination of the local rollout of online journey Steer offline retail enablement in the market, including ECP selection, onboarding, staff training, and quality audits. Create sales enablement tools such as product narratives, training materials, launch toolkits, and competitive guidance for commercial teams. Handle customer escalation cases in alignment with local stakeholders, for example customer service, regulatory, and marketing. Monitor customer feedback, adoption performance, and business KPIs after launch, and refine local execution accordingly. Lead implementation of local improvement initiatives and informs XRX about improvement needs. Ensure close alignment with the global team to define support needs Education / Professional Certification Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business , Marketing, Digital Commerce, or related field Experience 3 + years of relevant professional experience managing omnichannel retail, product marketing, product management, online / offline retail , omnichannel operations, project management , stakeholder management Proven track record in optical or health care industry a plus Experience with international rollouts and omnichannel strategies Optional: Experience with consumer tech, medical device, optical retail Knowledge / Skill s / Other characteristics Proven track record in successfully managing multi-workstream initiatives or roadmap-related programs in a retail or B2B2C context Experience managing local rollouts and coordinating cross-functional stakeholders in a matrix organization. Strong understanding of product marketing fundamentals, including segmentation, positioning, messaging, launch planning, and go-to-market execution. Excellent communication and cross-functional leadership skills; capable of influencing at multiple levels Ability to identify operational gaps, localization needs, and market constraints and translate them into practical actions. Strong stakeholder management skills across sales, marketing, customer service, regulatory, retail operations, and global teams. Analytical mindset with the ability to track readiness, execution quality, launch performance, and customer issues in a structured way. Optional: Experience in offline retail enablement, including partner or store onboarding, training coordination, and quality follow-up. Commercial orientation, customer focus, and the ability to work effectively in fast-changing and ambiguous environments Analytical and commercially minded; able to connect data-driven insights with strategic decision-making Entrepreneurial and curious, comfortable navigating ambiguity and building new processes in a corporate environment High degree of accountability and ownership – able to own topics end-to-end, make decisions within scope, and deliver results independently Comfortable working in fast-changing, ambiguous settings and taking ownership to move topics forward Strong verbal and written Japanese & English skills (C1-C2) Working conditions & Other Attributes. Hybrid working Holidays and Leave Paid Leave: 2–14 days in the first year, increasing to 21–25 days based on years of service Public Holidays: Approximately 125 days per year, including Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and year-end/New Year holidays (December 29–January 4). Additional special leave for celebrations and bereavement. Working Hours Standard Hours: 9:00–17:30 (including 1-hour break; 7.5 hours of actual work per day) Overtime: Required based on business needs; overtime allowance provided Benefits Celebration/condolence allowance, retirement benefit plan, defined contribution pension, cafeteria point system Transportation allowance: Up to ¥50,000/month Insurance: Employment insurance, workers' compensation insurance, health insurance, group life insurance Welfare club membership, household medicine discounts, flu vaccination subsidy, eyewear purchase discount Company club activities Smoking policy: Smoke-free premises Contract Period Permanent (indefinite term) Probation Period 3 months (may be extended up to 6 months; no change in terms and conditions) Work Location Osaka Office or Rinku Scope of change: Any ZEISS location nationwide Business Travel Required Compensation Annual Salary: ¥5,700,000–¥10,000,000 (including bonus and allowances; based on skills and experience) Monthly Salary: ¥400,000–¥600,000 Bonus: Yes Salary Increase: Yes Your ZEISS Recruiting Team: Ami Takeno （竹野 碧海）, Hiroko Okuda （奥田 裕子 - オクダ ヒロコ）, Hisayo Kemmotsu （剱物 ひ沙代）, Maho Hatabayashi （畑林 真帆 - ハタバヤシ マホ）