Manager, Internal Communications

Rakuten Kobo Inc.; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 79,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k matching

Paid time off (PTO)

Volunteer Time Off (VTO)

Job summary

Rakuten International brings together several distinct businesses under one banner. The internal communications team's mission is to make people across all units feel connected through change initiatives, all-hands meetings, and channels like email, Slack, intranet, signage, and video.

You’ll join as a versatile internal communications professional who can write, produce, and ship across formats—email, video, live events, and audio—and who has depth in at least one of them.

Qualifications

• Strong writing and editing ability for a broad, global employee audience.
• Experience applying AI tools to drafting, summarizing, and repurposing content.
• Experience creating content in at least one format: video, live events, or audio.
• Ability to partner with HR, IT, InfoSec or central service functions to drive engagement.

Responsibilities

• Write, edit, and ship targeted internal communications across channels.
• Lead on all hands meetings—logistics, coaching, and live production.
• Collaborate on building video and podcast capabilities with the team.
• Advise operational teams to create engaging, readable or watchable content.
• Use AI tools to accelerate drafting, editing, summarizing.
• Build stakeholder reports and track engagement metrics.
• Manage multiple projects independently while handling confidential material.

Skills

Strong writing & editing

AI tools in comms

Video/audio content creation

Collaborative mindset

Versatility (camera/mic/keyboard)

Discretion with sensitive material

Curiosity for new formats

Judgment

Education

BA in Communications/Journalism/Marketing or related

Tools

AI tools for comms

Job description

Job Description: Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community.

Job Summary

Rakuten International brings together several distinct businesses under one banner. The internal communications team's job is to make people across every one of them feel like they're part of the same workplace, through a growing slate of organizational change initiatives, global all-hands shows, and channels including email, Slack, intranet, digital signage, and video. You'll join as a versatile internal communications professional who can write, produce, and ship across formats - email, video, live events, and audio - and who has existing depth in at least one of them. You'll also be dedicated to driving real employee engagement that doesn't require piling onto everyone's inbox. We want more video and audio in the mix, and you'll help build that capability alongside team members who already produce a variety of content. What form that takes, whether it's short leadership pieces, recognition content, or an internal podcast, will be on us to invent and execute.

Key Responsibilities

• Write, edit, and ship targeted internal communications across channels - email, intranet, chat/collaboration tools, video, and audio - with momentum towards adopting formats that don't require opening an inbox.
• Partner on all hands meetings - run-of-show, platform logistics, speaker coaching, live production - bringing a real sense of what it takes to land a show.
• Collaborate on building out our video and podcast capability - you'll be part of shared ownership, so the current team has production backup.
• Be the advisor that operational teams - HR, IT, InfoSec, AIDD, and similar - turn to for help winning real engagement behind an initiative, and shape that into communications employees actually read, watch, or hear.
• Use AI tools to accelerate and transform the writing and production lifecycle - drafting, editing, repurposing, summarizing.
• Build stakeholder reports and track basic engagement metrics to show what's working and what isn't.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects independently, including sensitive or executive-level material, with sound judgment on confidentiality.

Key relationships

Internal Communications team; central service department teams and their leaders (HR, IT, Information Security, Legal, et al.); Global Talent Management & Inclusion (GTMI); AI and Data Division (AIDD).

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Strong writing and editing ability for a broad, global employee audience. Working knowledge of AI tools applied to communications work: drafting, iteration, repurposing, summarizing. Demonstrable experience creating content in at least one format - video, live events, or audio - and a clear sense of how that skill transfers to the others. This doesn't need to be professional experience: if you've built a real following around a consistent idea or persona on any platform, you already understand what makes people pay attention over time, and that instinct transfers directly here. Collaboration mindset: you'd rather be one of three people who could run the show than be the only one who can. Versatility: as comfortable behind a camera or a mic as behind a keyboard, often in the same week. Ownership without ego: the final product may not really be "yours" - and that's OK. Curiosity about new formats: video, audio, whatever gets the story read or watched without another email. Judgment: you can handle sensitive, executive-level material with discretion and grace. Above all: a passion for the truth well told. That's our department credo, and it's what we actually mean by all of the above.

Minimum Requirements

• 3-5 years of experience in internal or corporate communications.
• Experience partnering with HR, IT, InfoSec, or similar central service functions strongly preferred - with evidence that you can get things done without direct authority.
• BA in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Five Principles for 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 - Use the 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 $78,651.00 - $135,216.00 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-Readable Files | Rakuten