Director, Engineering and Research

Rakuten Kobo Inc.; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 143,000 - 267,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

401k matching

Paid time off

Volunteer Time Off

Other employee benefits

Job summary

Rakuten Group, Inc. is seeking a Director, Engineering and Research within Rakuten Americas’ AI & Data Division (AIDD). The role bridges cutting-edge research with scalable engineering, delivering AI solutions across agent experiences, search, recommendations, and personalization for billions of users.

You will guide multi-year roadmaps and lead interdisciplinary teams to production-ready systems. You will partner with executive stakeholders, manage budgets, and foster a culture of innovation,

Qualifications

• Expert in leading multi-year technical and research roadmaps.
• Proven ability to scale interdisciplinary engineering and research teams.
• Deep cloud-native systems experience with security and reliability.
• Strong track record translating AI/ML research into production systems.

Responsibilities

• Define multi-year roadmaps aligning research with engineering execution.
• Lead cross-functional teams across Research, Product, and Operations.
• Drive performance, budgeting, and resource planning.
• Foster collaboration between research and engineering.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Cloud-native architectures

AI/ML expertise

Stakeholder management

People management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Master's or Ph.D. preferred

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Distributed systems

Job description

Job Description: Rakuten Group, Inc. (TSE: 4755) is a global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses, and society. Founded in Tokyo in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications to 2 billion members around the world. The Rakuten Group has around 30,000 employees, and operations in 30 countries and regions. For more information visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

Job Summary: Rakuten Americas’ AI & Data Division (AIDD) is seeking a passionate and experienced Director, Engineering and Research to play a pivotal role in bridging cutting‑edge research with robust engineering capabilities to solve critical business needs. AIDD’s mission is to build world‑class AI experiences that serve as the digital core of Rakuten’s global ecosystem. In this role, you will focus on AI applications such as agent experiences, search, recommendation, personalization, and the broader customer experience—delivering meaningful impact for nearly 2 billion Rakuten users. Inspired by our CEO’s vision, “No AI, No Rakuten,” you will help ensure AI is embedded at the heart of everything we do. You will define and execute multi‑year technical and research roadmaps that align foundational research with real‑world engineering execution. You will lead interdisciplinary teams, scale operations, and oversee the full lifecycle of innovation—from early‑stage prototypes to production‑ready, large‑scale systems. The role requires close collaboration with executive stakeholders across Research, Product, Business, and global Rakuten teams to drive integrated, high‑impact AI initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Interdisciplinary Vision Define and drive multi‑year technical and research roadmaps, ensuring seamless integration of scientific discovery with scalable engineering implementation. Champion a culture of deep collaboration between research and engineering, breaking down silos to accelerate innovation and solution delivery. Guide architectural direction, modern engineering practices, and the adoption of technologies emerging from internal and external research. Provide expert leadership on the transition from research prototypes to reliable, secure, production‑grade systems. Establish cross‑functional standards and processes that support both research excellence and engineering efficiency.

Organizational & People Management Build, mentor, and scale high‑performing interdisciplinary teams, including both ICs and managers. Lead talent strategies—recruitment, retention, performance management, and career development—for a diverse, technically excellent organization. Communicate vision, goals, and priorities across functions, ensuring strong alignment and shared ownership. Optimize resource allocation across multiple product lines and initiatives, balancing delivery velocity with long‑term innovation. Accountable for resource planning and budgetary oversight.

Cross‑functional Collaboration & Business Impact Partner with executive stakeholders in Research, Product, Business, and Operations to align on technical direction and deliver integrated solutions. Drive cross‑functional initiatives by uniting research and engineering contributions toward shared business goals. Serve as a technical and scientific ambassador internally and externally, representing the team’s innovation and capabilities. Identify and support strategic partnerships and business development opportunities that leverage the team’s research‑engineering synergy.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must demonstrate excellence across the following domains. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Exceptional leadership in defining, communicating, and executing multi‑year technical and research roadmaps for complex, large‑scale systems.

Proven track record of building, coaching, and scaling interdisciplinary engineering and research organizations that deliver innovative, research‑informed software products.

Deep expertise in architecting and operating scalable, secure, and resilient cloud‑native systems, combined with a strong foundation in research methodology and experimental design.

Mastery of the full software development lifecycle, modern DevOps practices, and a commitment to engineering quality and scientific rigor.

Demonstrated ability to align and influence executive stakeholders across Research, Product, Business, and Operations on strategic, cross‑functional initiatives.

Strong technical acumen in AI/ML domains, including LLMs, NLP, search, recommendation systems, and conversational AI.

Comfortable leading through ambiguity in fast‑moving, international environments, managing globally distributed teams.

Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills; ability to translate complex technical and scientific concepts across diverse stakeholders.

Proven ability to attract, develop, and retain top‑tier engineering and research talent, fostering a culture of innovation, psychological safety, and continuous learning.

Experience or strong potential for engaging in strategic partnerships and business development initiatives.

Fluency in English is required; proficiency in Japanese is a plus.

Minimum Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Master’s or Ph.D. preferred.

A Ph.D. in a relevant AI/ML research field (e.g., Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, Operations Research) is highly desirable.

12+ years of progressive experience in software engineering and/or applied research, including 5+ years in senior manager or director‑level leadership roles.

Significant hands‑on experience with large‑scale, distributed systems and modern cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).

Proven ability to translate AI/ML research advancements—including Deep Learning, NLP, LLMs, and conversational AI—to scalable production systems.

Demonstrated success in leading large, interdisciplinary teams toward high‑impact outcomes that combine research excellence with engineering precision.

Five Principles for Success

Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

• Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
• Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Usethe Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
• Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
• Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.

Rakuten considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.

As part of our Rakuten interview process, we encourage applicants to use their own words, rather than AI-generated content. Tell us your story in a way that's personal and authentic.

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the base compensation for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job‑related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location.

The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus, health, vision, dental insurance, 401k matching, PTO, Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.

USD $143,055.00 - $267,190.00 annually

Rakuten International oversees 7 businesses with over 4,000 employees globally. The brand is recognized for its leadership and innovation in e-commerce, digital content, advertising, entertainment, and communications, bringing the joy of discovery and access to more than 1 billion members across the world. Everyday team members deliver on the company’s mission to delight merchants and customers through innovation, optimism, and teamwork.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act’s Transparency in Coverage Rules require group health plans to disclose on a public website information regarding in‑network provider rates and historical out‑of‑network allowed amounts and billed charges for covered items and services in two separate machine‑readable files (MRFs). The MRFs for Rakuten’s Aetna benefit plan are provided in the link below. Aetna Transparency in Coverage: Machine‑ReadableFiles | Rakuten