{"id":1297050,"url":"https://alion.io/job/apkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan","title":"Senior Manager, Project Implementation & Operations (Japan)","company":{"id":3785205,"name":"Apkudo","domain":"apkudo.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/apkudo","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Kula","truth_index":null},"role":"Solutions","role_family":"Solutions","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Tokyo, Japan"],"countries":["JP"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":10000000,"max":15000000,"currency":"JPY","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":95520},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-25T09:48:43Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-20","last_verified_at":"2026-10-21T14:03:50Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":26,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":26},"description":"Job Title: Senior Manager, Project Implementation & Operations - Japan\nLocation: Greater Tokyo Area, Japan\nDepartment: Japan Operations\nReports To: Head of Japan\nTarget Compensation: JPY 10,000,000 - 15,000,000 base, commensurate with experience\nPosition Summary\nApkudo is hiring one of the first members of its Japan team, to build and lead a differentiated operations capability in Japan from the ground up. This is a senior, high-trust role for someone who has already run complex, high-value programs end to end and can operate with minimal oversight while we stand up a new market.\nThe role combines two connected responsibilities. As Project Implementation lead, you will partner with Account Managers to shape the scope of each engagement and then own execution as project manager - building the plan, marshaling internal and customer-facing teams, and delivering on time, on budget, and to the required standard. As Operations owner, once a program is live, you take full ownership of it - analyzing performance, engaging stakeholders up to executive level, leading Kaizen efforts against SLA targets, and acting as the senior face of Apkudo to the customer.\nApkudo's product and technology are constantly evolving, and this role is where that evolution meets the real world: you are the person who takes what we build and makes it work, at scale, for real customers in Japan - part of how we push the industry forward. You will operate with significant autonomy: setting the operational agenda for your accounts, spotting risk before it becomes a customer issue, and representing Japan operations in cross-regional discussions with Apkudo leadership.\nWorking Style & Travel\nWorking hours and locations are flexible, reflecting the autonomy of this role. Because Apkudo's internal stakeholders span multiple time zones, some internal meetings will fall outside standard Japan business hours. The role is based in the Greater Tokyo area and requires regular travel to customer and partner sites within Japan, plus occasional international travel for leadership alignment; candidates should be comfortable with a variable, at times demanding, schedule.\nSkills & Qualifications\nMust-Have\nBusiness-level fluency in both Japanese and English (written and spoken), sufficient to lead executive-level customer discussions and internal cross-border collaboration in either language.\n\nBachelor's degree or above, in any field (advanced degree a plus).\n\n8+ years of progressive experience across operations management, program/project delivery, or technical account management, with a track record of owning results independently at a senior level.\n\nAble to commute to Apkudo's and customers' sites in the Greater Tokyo area.\n\nAvailable for regular domestic travel (and international travel as needed).\n\nPreferred Experience\nSenior operations management experience: owning day-to-day operations against SLAs/KPIs for high-value accounts, ideally including experience presenting performance and strategy to customer executives.\n\nCustomer relationship experience at a senior level: acting as the trusted senior point of contact for external customers, including owning executive business reviews, handling escalations, and delivering difficult updates with credibility.\n\nEngineering or technical work experience: sufficient to engage credibly with technical teams and understand device, hardware, or systems-related operational issues.\n\nProven project/program management experience - defining scope, building project plans, and driving cross-functional execution to a deadline and budget, including for large or complex engagements.\n\nExperience with continuous improvement / Kaizen methodology, or a demonstrated track record of diagnosing performance gaps and closing them at scale.\n\nExperience in mobile/connected devices, consumer electronics, or reverse logistics is a strong plus.\n\nStrong analytical skills, and the judgment to turn performance analysis into a clear improvement direction - plus the credibility to lead that direction through to results, persuading internal teams and customer stakeholders along the way.\n\nResponsibilities\nProject Implementation Lead\nOwn delivery of new customer implementation projects from scoping through go-live, including for Apkudo's most strategic and highest-value Japan accounts.\n\nPartner with Account Managers at a strategic level to shape the scope of work for each engagement, then execute as project manager - building the project plan, coordinating internal and customer-facing teams, and managing timeline, budget, risks, and issues.\n\nServe as the senior operational point of contact during implementation, ensuring a smooth handover into steady-state operations once the project is delivered.\n\nIdentify and escalate program risk early, and represent Japan implementation status in cross-regional and leadership reviews.\n\nOperations Owner\nOnce a project is live, take full ownership of managing the product/program on-site to sustain and grow the results it delivers.\n\nRun rigorous analysis of operational performance and engage customers and internal stakeholders, up to executive level, to apply best practice.\n\nLead Kaizen efforts to achieve and exceed SLA targets, then design and apply improvement plans against identified gaps.\n\nWork with internal teams to resolve day-to-day operational issues, unblocking cross-functional dependencies without formal authority where needed.\n\nAct as the senior face to the customer for operations management topics, including leading executive business reviews and status updates.\n\nSet the operational agenda and priorities for owned accounts, and act as a mentor/reference point for more junior operations staff as the Japan team grows.\n\nEmployment Terms (Japan) - required disclosure items\nThe items below are standard disclosures required for job postings and offers in Japan under the Employment Security Act (職業安定法) and related labor law. Bracketed items need HR/Legal confirmation before external posting.\n雇用形態 / Employment type\nFull-time, permanent employee (正社員)\n契約期間 / Contract term\nNo fixed term (期間の定めなし)\n試用期間 / Probation period\n3 months\n就業場所 / Place of work\nGreater Tokyo area (customer sites, partner sites, and remote/home) [confirm any home-office policy]\n就業時間 / Working hours\ndiscretionary labor system\n休憩・休日 / Breaks & holidays\n2 days off/week, public holidays, year-end/New Year, paid annual leave\n賃金 / Wages\nJPY 10,000,000 - 15,000,000 base (annual), paid monthly\n昇給・賞与 / Raises & bonus\nPay raise once a year\n加入保険 / Social insurance\n[Health insurance, employee pension, employment insurance, workers' accident compensation insurance - confirm enrollment terms]\n受動喫煙対策 / Workplace smoking policy\nNo Smoking\n募集企業名 / Hiring entity\n[Remote.com]\nAbout Apkudo\nApkudo builds technology and automation that helps companies manage the full lifecycle of connected devices - from deployment through end-of-life recovery and resale.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6929,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"Japanese","level":"All levels","optional":false},{"language":"English","level":"Advanced (C1)","optional":false}]},"benefits":["Annual leave","Health insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Japan","iso":"JP","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Transportation & Logistics","Secondhand","Supply Chain","Data Entry & Processing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-26T09:48:43Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":72,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.801,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":25,"expected_fill_days":37,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":95520,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/apkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/apkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-21T14:40:41Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":20937,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-22T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3785205},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3785205"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fapkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fapkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fapkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/apkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fapkudo-senior-manager-project-implementation-operations-japan"}]}