Harry
Bachelor of Business Administration
Joined in 2019
Product Manager
Customer Engagement Section
Marketing Cloud Platform Department
What are your current responsibilities?
I am a product manager in a department that develops data marketing tools. We analyze actual use cases and competition data before thinking about what kind of product to create in line with the vision of the platform itself. As product manager it is also my role to devise ways to help engineers understand the goals of the product and the specific features we want to add. I manage development progress; assess test cases and bugs with quality assurance staff; and coordinate the overall product development schedule. After development is complete, I gather feedback from the various Rakuten Group divisions who use the product. This helps me learn about the product’s usability and functionality, as well as identify areas for improvement. I feel it is a very rewarding job because it requires taking an all-embracing perspective when making decisions.
Where do you feel you have improved since joining Rakuten?
Since joining Rakuten Group, I particularly value our "Get Things Done" culture. I work with this mindset even after changing departments or positions. My first assignment was at Rakuten Mobile, an organization that had been established relatively recently. Early on, I faced some difficult challenges that had to be solved under pressure. It was a situation in which I could have found countless reasons why I wouldn’t succeed, but I was surrounded by team members who didn’t dwell on the negatives but focused instead on how we could succeed and move forward. That experience had a big influence on me. The reason why I can work through difficult situations to find a solution is because of Rakuten’s culture which supports trying new and different ideas to overcome challenges—and attitude of thinking outside the box.
What has your career path been like, and how have you grown?
I moved from a business career path to an engineering career path. After joining Rakuten, I started as a business analyst in a department that develops applications for external sales in the mobile business sector. In that role, I interviewed colleagues in the customer support and marketing departments to find areas that could be automated and then communicated the requirements to the engineers. After that, I was given an opportunity by my manager to experience to manage product development. Now, as a product manager I support marketing through product development. I originally majored in marketing, so working within the engineering process means I am constantly challenged. I enjoy this environment though, because it gives me more and more opportunities for growth and I get to work with the support of colleagues around me.
How is your background incorporated into your work?
In my work, I utilize the communication and task management skills I acquired and developed from the experience of pursuing a degree in the United States. All the engineers in the development team during my time at Rakuten Mobile were from India, and my current department is also a multinational team, with members from countries like Russia, France, China and Vietnam. It’s not enough just to be able to speak English. It’s also very important to have the ability to understand complex details about development and discuss one’s own opinions and lead discussions when needed. While I was in the U.S., I was in an environment where I was constantly asked, "What do you think?" I also managed and completed a lot of daily assignments. These experiences have helped me to manage and support development processes in my current position, which requires working together speedily as a team.
SCHEDULE
- 08:00
- Arrive at the office. This is an important time in the morning to focus on research and prepare for presentations.
- 09:30
- Morning progress meeting with the team. Share development status, issues and risks with each team to ensure smooth development.
- 12:00
- Lunch time. When the weather is nice, I take a walk along the river with my colleagues to refresh myself.
- 13:00
- Review development details of the current two-week development period. Discuss improvement points based on the engineers' presentation of development details.
- 15:00
- Meet with the business side of the development project. Ask various Rakuten Group businesses about their use cases and needs, then flesh out ideas for functionality the product should have.
- 17:30
- Leave the office. Go out for drinks with friends and colleagues or do yoga.. I like to try new things and recently got my motorcycle license
*This article is based on information provided at the time of the interview.
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- Applications Engineer
- Infrastructure Engineer
- Data Scientist / Researcher
- Security Engineer
- Information Security / Privacy Governance Specialist
- Technology Management
- Product Management
- Development Support（Q&A, etc.)