Mobile Application Engineering Manager - Travel Development Department (TDD)

Job Description:

Department Overview

Rakuten Travel is a leading online travel service in Japan, dedicated to “Making People Happy with Travel”.

https://travel.rakuten.com/

Since our founding in 1996, we have consistently led the industry, challenging the norms and fostering innovation. With growing aspirations to expand beyond borders as a Global Innovation Company, we are not confined to Japan but continue to strive daily to become the world's premier travel reservation service.

The Travel Development Department (TDD), a key part of the Commerce & Marketing Company, is currently taking on the following ambitious projects:

- A global strategy to deliver the appeal of Rakuten Travel across borders to people around the world.

- Continuous improvement of service quality in the ever-evolving Japanese market.

To ensure the success of these projects, the presence of like-minded colleagues who share the same vision is essential.

We are looking for individuals who resonate with Rakuten Travel's purpose and are eager to carve out a new future together.

Why not join Rakuten Travel in proposing new ways of traveling to people around the world and aim to become a pioneer in shaping the future of travel?

Your passion and creativity will bring a fresh breeze to the travel industry, which is full of infinite possibilities. We look forward to your application as you take on these grand challenges and grow together with your colleagues in a diverse environment.

Position:

Why We Hire

The Travel Development Department (TDD) is currently focusing its activities on two main projects: 

- Improving, developing, and operating the existing system, which serves over 100 million users, to ensure stable system operation and increase revenue. 

- Developing a new mobile application that consolidates the various Rakuten Travel mobile applications into a single unified application.

Rakuten Travel offers both web and mobile application platforms, but moving forward, we will adopt a strategy that places greater emphasis on search and booking through the mobile application.

We are seeking an Engineering Manager who can not only lead the mobile application engineering team but also collaborate with other teams, such as the API development team, Product Manager team, and Quality Assurance team, to drive projects forward. 

We welcome applications from individuals who are eager to take on the challenge of developing and operating large-scale systems.
 

Position Details

As a Mobile Application Engineering Manager, the following responsibilities are expected: 

- Managing a group of approximately 20 members, consisting of multiple teams (each team comprising 5 to 10 members). 

- Leading development projects aligned with business growth and committed objectives. 

- Creating KPIs derived from the overall Travel Development strategy and breaking them down to the group level, along with planning and executing actions to achieve them. 

- Educating and nurturing future engineering leaders through 1-on-1 meetings and the use of HR tools. 

- Acting as the architect for the systems managed by the group, evaluating new technologies, and considering trade-offs in architecture. 

- As the system owner, maintaining stable production operations by designing and building the necessary processes and mechanisms. 

- As a project manager, managing schedules and ensuring on-time delivery. 

Mandatory Qualifications:

- Empathy for Rakuten Shugi (Rakuten Basic Principles)

- Over 3 years of management experience, including:

Interviewing and hiring engineers.

Supporting the career growth and development of team members through goal setting, evaluations, and education.

- Communication skills necessary for interacting with various stakeholders, such as product managers and QA teams.

- Knowledge and expertise in iOS development using Swift and Android development using Kotlin.

- Understanding of the latest features and best practices for iOS/Android platforms.

- A strong sense of responsibility for maximizing the balance between quality and cost, achieving KPIs, production operations, and making design decisions.

- Responsibility for task assignments to team members by clearly defining the following points:

Deadlines.

Priorities.

Background and objectives.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

- Responsibility for task progress by clearly defining the following points:

Cost and lead time estimates.

Risks.

Necessary support.

Responsibility for task quality through reviews and processes.

Desired Qualifications:

- Communication in Japanese.

- Experience in BtoBtoC and travel industry architecture design.

- Have in depth knowledge of Rakuten Travel's technology stack including:

Development:

Backend : Java, Spring Framework, Spring Boot, Spring Data, Spring Cloud Config, Spring Cloud Sleuth, JUnit, Apache Maven, IntelliJ IDEA

Web Frontend : JavaScript/TypeScript, React, HTML, CSS

Middleware:

Oracle, Oracle GoldenGate for Big Data, MongoDB, Kafka, Apache HTTP Server, Apache Tomcat

Infrastructure:

Private Cloud (RIaaS, Kubernetes)

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