Head of Solutions & Partnerships Japan Branch at a Swiss company (KPIT Group) / In-car gaming platform / Hybrid work

Benefits:

- Hybrid work

- Possibility to travel all around Japan for Business Development

- Social insurances following local law

- Chances to travel to Switzerland to meet the rest of the team

Head of Solutions & Partnerships, Japan

AirConsole (a KPIT Technologies company) Tokyo · Hybrid

Company Background

AirConsole is a leading in-car gaming platform, founded in Zurich and acquired by KPIT Technologies in 2025.

Launched in vehicles from BMW, Mini, Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche within two years of entering the automotive market.

40+ in-vehicle game titles, with partnerships including Mattel, Atari, Bandai Namco and Sony.

KPIT Technologies is one of the largest independent automotive software partners globally, with deep established relationships across the Japanese automotive industry and listed on NSE/BSE.

Hiring Background

AirConsole has active engagement with one of Japan's major automotive manufacturers, currently scaling from initial deployment toward a production-scale partnership.

Japanese OEMs are accelerating their transformation toward software-defined vehicles and investing in next-generation in-cabin experiences.

We are hiring our first Japan-dedicated team member to own this existing engagement and lead AirConsole's broader Japan expansion.

This is a founding role: defining AirConsole's Japan presence, not inheriting an established operation.

Role Overview

Primary AirConsole representative in Japan.

Three interlocking responsibilities:

1. Account ownership: Day-to-day relationship owner for the active OEM engagement, working with the existing project manager who continues to own technical delivery.

2. Partnership development: Lead Japan partnership strategy with additional OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, from first contact through to contract closure.

3. Technical solution credibility: Earn trust with OEM engineering, product, UX/HMI, connected-services, and infotainment teams. No need to be the deep implementation owner, but must be able to explain AirConsole's product, integration model, technical requirements, security approach, OTA mechanics, and content strategy in credible customer conversations.

Responsibilities

- Existing OEM engagement

・Primary Japan-based point of contact and relationship owner.

・Bridge between customer organization and AirConsole HQ engineering and product teams.

・Stakeholder communication across customer engineering, product, UX/HMI, and emerging commercial contacts.

・Drive transition from initial deployment to production-scale partnership.

- New partnership development

・Identify, prioritize, and approach Japanese OEMs (Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki, Sony Honda Mobility, Mitsubishi) and Tier 1 suppliers (Denso, Panasonic Automotive, Aisin, Pioneer, Alpine, Mitsubishi Electric).

・Lead first meetings and technical workshops with OEM connected-services, infotainment, HMI, and software platform teams.

・Present AirConsole's platform: product, integration architecture, security and certification model, OTA mechanics, content strategy.

・Scope POCs and integration projects; translate OEM requirements into inputs for HQ engineering.

・Drive opportunities through the early and mid-stage sales process until they are mature enough for executive negotiation and contract closure support from AirConsole HQ.

・Remain the local relationship owner throughout the opportunity lifecycle.

- Market strategy and ecosystem

・Define Japan strategy: market segmentation, opportunity prioritization, content localization, ecosystem mapping.

・Coordinate with KPIT Japan to leverage existing relationships, engineering capacity, and delivery resources.

・Represent AirConsole at Japan Mobility Show, Automotive World Tokyo, CEATEC, and other industry events.

Reporting Line

Formal employment and HR reporting: Employer of Record.

Functional reporting and day-to-day mandate: AirConsole leadership (Zurich).

Close partnership: KPIT Japan executive team and the existing project manager on the active OEM engagement.

[Key Attractions]

・Founding Member Impact: Rather than inheriting a legacy portfolio, you will build and shape AirConsole's Japanese footprint from scratch.

・Global & Cutting-Edge Industry: Work at the intersection of mobility and entertainment alongside top global brands (Mattel, Atari, Bandai Namco, Sony) and overseas engineering teams.

・Flexibility & Global Exposure: Hybrid working arrangement with 4-6 international trips per year (Zurich, Pune, global expos).

Company Info

[Future Business Strategy]

With the rapid rise of Software-Defined Vehicles, in-cabin digital entertainment is becoming a major differentiator. AirConsole aims to lead the market by establishing deep integrations across all major Japanese OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers.

[Work Atmosphere]

AirConsole combines the agility and fun culture of a tech scale-up with the solid financial backing and global resources of KPIT Technologies. An open, diverse, and tech-passionate team environment where you will collaborate closely with international colleagues in Zurich and India in a flat, communicative culture.

[Measures Against Passive Smoking]

No smoking on premises (Designated smoking room available).

Working Hours

42.5

Job Requirements

Must-Have Requirements

・Demonstrated experience as in-country relationship owner for a foreign technology vendor working with a Japanese OEM on a multi-stakeholder, multi-year program.

・Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Informatics, or related technical field.

・10+ years total professional experience.

・4+ years in a customer-facing technical role (Solutions Architect, Pre-Sales Engineer, Field Application Engineer, Technical Account Manager, Technical Product Manager, or similar) in the automotive or automotive software industry.

・Hands-on background in in-vehicle infotainment, connected services, or automotive HMI/UX.

・Native-level Japanese; business-fluent English (CEFR C1 or equivalent).

・Established personal network in the Japanese automotive software ecosystem.

・Comfortable being the first AirConsole-dedicated employee in Japan: self-directed and at ease with ambiguity.

Nice-to-Have

・Background at a foreign technology or automotive software company that successfully entered the Japanese OEM market (HARMAN, Cerence, Elektrobit, NVIDIA Automotive, Qualcomm Automotive, BlackBerry QNX, Unity, Mapbox, HERE Technologies, or similar).

・Background at an automotive software services or systems integration firm with Japan presence (Tata Elxsi, L&T Technology Services, HCL, TCS, Wipro, or similar).

・Working knowledge of Android Automotive OS, QNX, AGL, or comparable IVI platforms.

・Existing relationships at Toyota Connected, Sony Honda Mobility, Nissan connected-car organization, or major Tier 1 software groups.

・Interest or prior exposure in gaming: game engines, mobile or console gaming, game publishing.

・Experience working across Indian and European HQ teams.

Ideal Person

・Technical mind on a commercial path. Engineering instinct preserved; customer-facing work is where you now thrive.

・An interpreter. You translate engineering expectations, decision-making styles, and escalation norms between Japanese OEMs and European or Indian HQ teams.

・A builder, not an operator. Energized by defining how a market should be approached.

・A long-game player. Comfortable with Japanese OEM relationship timelines.

・Senior in the room. Credible opposite senior engineering executives at Japan's largest mobility companies.

・Curious about gaming, entertainment, and the changing role of the vehicle interior.

English Level

Fluent (TOEIC 865-)

Japanese Level

Native Level

Chinese Level

None

Salary

JPY - Japanese Yen JPY 18000K - JPY 25000K

Other Salary Description

Social insurance

Employee savings plan

Education and training

Overseas business trip allowance and travel expenses provided

Opportunities for business trips and training at the Swiss headquarters

Holidays

Five-Day Workweek

Paid Holidays

Sick Leave

Job Contract Period

Permanent

Nearest Station

Tokyo (located in the same building as or near the KPIT Japan office)

*Hybrid work possible / Domestic business trips required (to OEM locations), overseas business trips required (4-6 times per year: Zurich, Switzerland; Pune, India; industry events, etc.)