POSITION SUMMARY:
The Corporate Planning team serves as a vital bridge between the U.S. local entity and Japan Headquarters (HQ), ensuring timely reporting and cross-border alignment. This position will be responsible for driving various critical and wide-ranging business initiatives, including budget planning, mid-term business plan formulation, sales management system enhancements, production/logistics optimization, and cross-functional project management.
Initially, the successful candidate will own assigned data aggregation, financial analysis and material preparation for ongoing high-priority projects. Additionally, the role is resonsible for ad-hoc data analysis requests from executive management and supporting the overall operational capacity of the team while gaining a comprehensive understanding of our business operations. Ultimately, the job holder will indepently plan and execute major projects as the primary owner/project manager.
Key Responsibilities
1. Corporate Planning & Performance Management (Leading Planning, Budgeting, and Profitability Analysis)
- Coordinate with various departments to collect, aggregate, and analyze data for budgeting, mid-term business planning, and key performance management frameworks (KPIs, ROIC, etc.).
- Run simulations and identify business challenges for business portfolio analysis and segment/product profitability evaluations (such as visualizing marginal profits).
- Assume full ownership of specific areas of budgeting and mid-term business planning, independently leading plan formulations and cross-border adjustments with HQ.
2. Enhancing Sales Management & Data Visualization
- Track progress of sales and order data, and update/create variance (gap) analysis reports against targets for executive review.
- Support the automation and standardization of sales and marketing reports by leveraging internal data tools (BI tools, Tableau, Excel, etc.).
- Conduct data analysis on sales discount rules and specific market/customer performances to propose concrete improvement measures to the sales department.
3. Project Management Office (PMO) & Cross-Functional Coordination
- Serve as Project Manager, including managing stakeholders, timelines and schedules via Gantt charts and needed resources, for assigned cross-functional initiatives, such as new product development and factory production transfers.
- Respond promptly to urgent data extraction and research requests (ad-hoc analysis) from management and structure the findings into clear executive reports.
- Lead information sharing, negotiations, and alignments with relevant stakeholders (Japan HQ, Logistics, QC, external vendors, etc.) for corporate and logistics operational tasks, such as tracking reciprocal tariff/duty refunds.
4. Process Standardization & Documentation
- Document data aggregation processes and recurring reporting workflows that are currently reliant on specific individuals. Create and maintain clear step-by-step manuals to ensure workflow efficiency and operational continuity.
Qualifications & Skills
Required Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Data Analytics or related field.
- Professional Experience: 2 to 5 years of professional experience leading data analysis or report preparation in Corporate Planning, Finance/Accounting, Sales Planning, Business Analysis, or Management Consulting. (Agility and data processing speed are valued over years of experience).
- Data Analysis Skills: Advanced Excel skills (proficiency in formulas, pivot tables, data manipulation, and cross-referencing large datasets).
- Flexibility & Multi-Tasking: Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously with speed and agility in a fast-paced, ad-hoc environment where priorities can shift rapidly.
- Language & Communication Skills:
- Japanese: Business level or higher is mandatory (Native or equivalent). Must be able to independently manage seamless information exchange, handle complex business requirements, and draft/coordinate materials with Japan HQ (Corporate Planning and other related divisions).
- English: Business level. Ability to clearly understand directives from local management and local staff, translating them accurately into data and structured documentation.
Preferred Qualifications
- Data Visualization Skills: Hands-on experience with BI tools (Tableau, Power BI, etc.) or experience in data validation.
- Industry Knowledge: Professional background or foundational knowledge in the manufacturing sector, supply chain, or logistics operations.
- Project Management: Experience in project tracking (PMO) or creating structured business process documentation and manuals.
- ERP Systems: Foundational knowledge of data extraction and system utilization using ERP platforms (such as IFS).