Director, Internal Communications

Rakuten Kobo Inc.; United States; Hybrid; USD 113,157 - 211,032; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, vision, dental insurance

401k matching

PTO

Volunteer Time Off (VTO)

Job summary

Rakuten Kobo Inc. is seeking a Director for Rakuten Rewards to shape internal communications strategy and ensure alignment with corporate objectives. This role emphasizes employee engagement and comprehension, assuring clear communication between the executive team and staff.

Ideal candidates will have strong writing skills, experience advising senior leadership, and a background in consumer technology or e-commerce. The position includes benefits such as health insurance and a potential discretionary bonus.

Qualifications

• Experience advising senior leaders in internal or employee communications.
• Track record of improving employee understanding or engagement.
• Background in consumer tech, digital advertising, or fast-moving product companies.

Responsibilities

• Define communication flow from executives to employees.
• Advise on communications strategies for key business moments.
• Build and execute effective communications strategies for employees.
• Coordinate with global communications for unified messages.
• Measure and report on employee understanding of strategy.

Skills

Exceptional writing

Business fluent

Consumer tech background

Operationally disciplined

Comfortable with data

Strong executive presence

Tech literate

Earn trust

Education

7–12 years in internal communications

Job description

Job Summary

Rakuten Rewards is in a period of transformation. This Director shapes how the company communicates to our employees through it, making strategy legible at every level and giving employees a clear line between their work and the company’s direction. You’ll work closely with Rewards leadership. While this role will primarily focus on internal communications within Rewards, collaboration with its parent company Rakuten International will be essential to ensure alignment and support for broader initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Executive & leadership partnership: Define how information moves from the executive team through leaders and managers to employees: what gets communicated broadly, what flows through managers, what needs repetition, and through which channels.
• Strategic communications advice: Advise Rewards leadership on communications strategy for key business moments such as product changes, organizational shifts, and strategic pivots.
• Leadership tools: Give leaders at all levels the messaging and tools to communicate strategy with their teams.
• Enterprise alignment: Coordinate with Rakuten International communications on initiatives requiring a unified enterprise message.

Employee Understanding & Connection

• Build and execute communications strategy: assure employees know the company’s direction and can connect their own work to it.
• Develop framing for announcements: create a “what this means for you” framing for major announcements and strategic updates.
• HR partnership: partner with HR to ensure programs such as onboarding, career development, and role‑change communications consistently tie individual work to company priorities.
• Measure employee understanding: build mechanisms to assess how well employees grasp strategy and priorities.

Organizational Listening & Measurement

• Build listening mechanisms: pulse surveys, channel analytics, manager feedback loops to measure communications impact.
• Provide insights: go beyond data to spotlight what employees understand, gaps, and actions.
• Define KPIs: around employee comprehension and strategy penetration.

Programs & Channels

• Own content strategy: for bi‑weekly All Hands meetings and Leadership Summits.
• Program execution: agenda management, speaker prep, slide production, run‑of‑show, follow‑through.
• System improvement: build systems so each runs better than the last.
• Editorial discipline: manage and apply to internal channels such as newsletters, intranet, video, etc.

Qualifications

• Exceptional writer: especially in plain language that makes strategy feel relevant to the person reading it.
• Business fluent: enough understanding of the business to translate operating context into clear employee narratives without being hand‑held.
• Consumer tech, ad tech, and e‑commerce background preferred.
• Operationally disciplined: build repeatable systems, keep tight calendars, and follow through.
• Comfortable with data: learn from survey results and channel metrics to adjust your approach.
• Strong executive presence: counsel senior leaders and push back when warranted.
• Tech literate: use available tools to work faster and smarter, and help employees navigate AI adoption with clarity and confidence.
• Earn trust across a complex organization without formal authority.

Minimum Requirements

• 7–12 years in internal or employee communications; experience advising senior leaders required.
• Track record of improving employee understanding or engagement.
• Background in a relevant industry such as consumer tech, digital advertising, or technology, e‑commerce, or a fast‑moving product company.
• Global or multinational experience a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics, balancing the varying needs of cross‑functional teams in areas such as Product, Marketing, Technology, and Human Resources.

Success Metrics

• Employee engagement and understanding of company strategy (survey‑measured, year‑over‑year).
• Employee clarity on how their work connects to company priorities.
• Leadership communication effectiveness as rated by employees.
• Comprehension across key internal channels.
• Employee clarity during major initiatives and transitions.

Compensation & Benefits

USD $113,157.00 – $211,032.00 annually.

• Discretionary bonus.
• Health, vision, dental insurance.
• 401k matching.
• PTO.
• Volunteer Time Off (VTO).
• Other employee benefits as the company implements.

Equal Employment Opportunity

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