Sr. Manager, Internal Communications

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

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

401(k) 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 writes, produces, and ships across email, video, live events, and audio to engage employees while avoiding inbox fatigue.

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.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Collaboration mindset: you'd rather be one of three people who could run the show.
• 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.

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).

Skills

Writing & editing

AI in communications

Video production

Audio production

Collaboration

Education

BA in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, or related field

Equivalent practical experience

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

• 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