UI/UX Director - Rakuten Bic Business Department (C&M)

Job Description:

Department Overview
"Rakuten Bic" is a comprehensive home electronics service operated as a first-party business within the Rakuten Group. It was established in 2018 through a joint venture between Rakuten and Bic Camera, and operates as a storefront on Rakuten Ichiba. By leveraging the strengths of both companies, the service aims to provide a highly convenient shopping experience that transcends the boundaries between online and offline channels.
https://biccamera.rakuten.co.jp/

Rakuten Bic handles a wide range of operations, including marketing for Rakuten Ichiba and the operation of the e-commerce marketplace store. Furthermore, the team implements O2O (Online-to-Offline) initiatives to drive traffic to physical stores for customers who prefer to see large appliances in person before purchasing. The team is also responsible for UI/UX improvements and feature enhancements that account for the entire customer journey-including recycling collection, installation, construction, and after-sales support for large appliances-all with the goal of improving the Customer Experience within the electronics category.

Position:
Why We Hire
The CWD (Creative & Web Design) team is primarily responsible for UI/UX and production. In addition to creating and updating marketing assets, we collaborate with business and development teams to drive new feature development and improve KPIs and VOC. We manage UI/UX improvements and feature development across the entire service-including the homepage, search, product pages, shopping cart, checkout process, and static content-to support business growth while maintaining a strong focus on the user perspective.

We are currently seeking a UI/UX Director who can lead UI/UX design and development and drive projects to make our service even more convenient for our users. This role offers the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge and experience by designing and developing with the entire service ecosystem in mind. Our business, development, and creative teams are small, agile units that hold daily huddle meetings to ensure rapid decision-making, creating an environment where bottom-up improvement proposals are highly encouraged.

Attract
1. Lead the home electronics category on Rakuten Ichiba
- As a first-party service within Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Bic collaborates with Bic Camera and various Rakuten departments to enhance the convenience of electronics retail and solve challenges faced by both customers and merchants.

2. Engage in projects that expand your skills and experience
- Decision-making for project advancement is faster here than in other departments due to our small, agile organizational structure.
- You will perform UX design and development, balancing priorities by considering the needs of all stakeholders, including users, business goals, and operational requirements.
- You will gain experience across the entire project lifecycle: planning, research, design, development, implementation, testing, release, and performance measurement.

3. Acquire diverse knowledge and skills to broaden your future career
- This role serves as a stepping stone for future career paths, including Product Manager, as well as roles in planning or development.

4. Strive for the No.1 UI/UX in home electronics retail
- You will have the unique opportunity to collaborate not only with various Rakuten internal departments but also directly with Bic Camera, a leading electronics retailer.
- You are empowered to propose and drive UI/UX improvements through a bottom-up approach.

Position Details
Key Responsibilities
- Understanding business requirements, defining specifications, and coordinating stakeholder reviews.
- Creating wireframes, managing creative direction, and conducting quality assurance (QA).
- UI/UX design for feature enhancement projects.
- Facilitating meetings, and preparing agendas and meeting minutes.
- Conducting competitive research and analyzing UI trends.
- Performing user research (quantitative and qualitative).
- Conducting usability testing.
- Designing A/B tests.
- Calculating projected impact before release and measuring actual performance post-release.

Project Examples
- Product Detail Page Full Renewal: Conducted UX research to identify pain points during the purchase process, developed proposals, and executed a complete redesign of the product detail pages.
- Global Navigation UI Improvement: Improved the UI to enhance the customer experience while simultaneously resolving technical and operational UX challenges.

Work Environment
Team Structure
- Department: Home Electronics First-Party Section, Rakuten Bic Division
- Team Size: 11 members
- Age Range: Primarily late 20s to 30s
- Hiring Background: 10% new graduates, 90% mid-career hires

Background of Mid-Career Hires
- Successful mid-career team members often possess a diverse skill set. Beyond their core expertise, they leverage knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines. They proactively update their expertise to align with market trends, business goals, and service status, allowing them to adapt flexibly and act with speed in a fast-paced environment.

Career Path Examples
- From Coder to Front-End Engineer & Product Manager: Joined as a Coder and advanced to a Web Developer specializing in UI/UX improvements, eventually stepping up to a dual role as a Front-End Engineer and Development Director.
- From Coder to Front-End Engineer & Project Manager: Joined as a Coder and worked as a Web Developer managing SEO-driven media, then advanced to a dual role as a Front-End Engineer and Director (Project Manager).
- From Web Director to UI/UX Director: Joined as a Web Director and advanced to a UI/UX Director, now leading UI/UX improvements for the entire service.

Mandatory Qualifications:
- Practical experience in UI/UX direction for websites.
- Knowledge of HTML/CSS and other technologies required for UI design and site operation.
- Experience in designing UI using Figma.
- Experience in project execution (visualizing and quantifying goals, and driving progress).
- Experience in UX-related tasks, including qualitative and quantitative user research.
- Experience in data analysis, KPI formulation, and performance evaluation.

Desired Qualifications:
- End-to-end project experience, from research and planning to execution and release.
- Front-end development skills applicable to development projects.
- Knowledge of logical and design thinking, with experience applying them in a professional setting.
- Experience in proposing and executing project plans through negotiation with diverse stakeholders.
- Product management experience.
- Team management experience.
- Experience in UI/UX improvement using design systems.
- Experience in service improvement leveraging AI, such as LP (Landing Page) generation or RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) implementation.

Other Information:
Additional information on Location
Rakuten Crimson House
1-14-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Additional information on Secondment
You will be employed by Rakuten Group, Inc. (EC Consulting Department, Home Electronics First-Party Section) and seconded to Rakuten Bic, Inc. Your primary workplace will be Rakuten Crimson House in Futako-Tamagawa. You may occasionally be required to accompany team members to offices in Ikebukuro or Takadanobaba for meetings with Bic Camera.

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/
- 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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