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: https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/benefit/
- Rakuten Culture: https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/culture/

#engineer #applicationsengineer #commerce

Languages:

Japanese (Overall - 4 - Fluent)