Job Description:

About Organization

Rakuten Symphony, a Rakuten Group company, is revolutionizing the mobile telco industry globally by providing next-generation, cloud-based, international mobile services. Building on the innovative technology Rakuten used to launch Japan’s newest mobile network, we are now taking our mobile offering global. To support our ambitious goal of providing an innovative cloud-native telco platform for our customers, Rakuten Symphony is actively seeking to recruit and develop top talent from around the globe. We are looking for individuals to join our team across all functional areas of our business – from sales to engineering, and from support functions to product development. Join us and let’s build the future of mobile telecommunications together!

Job Duties

The Pre-Sales Solutions Architect will play a critical role in driving growth in the rapidly evolving telecommunications market in Japan. This position requires a blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and exceptional communication skills to engage with clients, understand their challenges, and architect compelling solutions for the Japanese market. Key responsibilities include:

• Solution Architecture & Design: Lead the technical pre-sales process, designing and presenting innovative solutions that address customer needs across Operations Support Systems (OSS), Radio Access Networks (RAN), and connectivity domains within the Japanese telecommunications landscape. This includes specialized areas such as service assurance, orchestration, and site management.

• Technical Expertise: Act as a primary subject matter expert for OSS, RAN, 4G/5G evolution, cloud, and virtualization technologies. Provide in-depth technical guidance and support to both internal sales teams and external customers in Japan.

• Client Engagement: Build and nurture executive-level relationships with designated accounts in Japan. Thoroughly understand their business objectives, technical requirements, and pain points to effectively tailor and position our solutions.

• Market Growth: Proactively identify and develop new market opportunities, particularly within the cloud domain, across Japan. Strategically position and sell new solutions in emerging market segments.

• Collaboration: Work closely and collaboratively with sales, product management, and engineering teams to ensure strong alignment between customer needs, product roadmaps, and delivery capabilities specifically for the Japanese market.

• Presentations & Demonstrations: Deliver compelling technical presentations, engaging product demonstrations, and effective proof-of-concepts to prospective clients throughout Japan.

• Proposal Development: Contribute significantly to the development of comprehensive technical proposals, Statements of Work (SOWs), and other essential sales collateral.

• Market Intelligence: Continuously monitor market trends and competitor activities, providing regular and insightful feedback to internal teams regarding the dynamic Japanese telecommunications market.

• Pipeline & Revenue Growth: Actively support the sales team in achieving revenue targets by maximizing extraction from named accounts and driving new business opportunities across Japan.

Minimum Qualification

• Education: Bachelor's degree in a technical field (e.g., Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications).

• Experience:

  • 10+ years of experience in pre-sales, solutions architecture, or a similar customer-facing technical role within the telecommunications industry.

  • Significant and demonstrable experience specifically within the Japanese market.

• Technical Understanding:

  • Deep understanding of Operations Support Systems (OSS).

  • Deep understanding of mobile networks (4G/5G).

  • Deep understanding of cloud computing and virtualization technologies.

• Sales & Business Acumen:

  • Proven track record of successfully identifying, developing, negotiating, and closing complex technical deals in the Japanese market.

• Communication & Soft Skills:

  • Exceptional presentation, negotiation, and communication skills (written and verbal) in both Japanese and English.

  • Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

  • Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.

• Mindset:

  • Passion for innovation and a strong drive for excellence.

Preferred Qualification

• Technical Expertise:

  • Hands-on Experience in OSS Domain for Mobile Operators/Telecommunication Vendors.

  • Exposure to Public clouds (GCP, Azure, and AWS).

  • Experience and thorough understanding of DBaaS, PaaS, IaaS.

  • Understanding of Networking, Storage, and Security Concepts.

• Tools:

  • Working knowledge of CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce).

• Key Domain Exposure (Specific knowledge in these areas is highly valued):

  • Operations Support Systems (OSS): Service assurance, orchestration, fault management, performance management, inventory management, network planning and optimization.

  • Radio Access Network (RAN): 4G, 5G, Open RAN, small cells, distributed antenna systems (DAS).

  • Connectivity: Data Center, IP/MPLS networks (IPTX), Neutral Host solutions, DWDM, Core Network.

  • Cloud: Cloud-native architectures, virtualization, containerization (e.g., Kubernetes), public/private/hybrid cloud deployments, cloud migration strategies.

RAKUTEN SHUGI PRINCIPLES:

Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 SHUGI Principles of Success.

・Always improve, always advance. Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen.

・Be 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 success in unknown territory.

・Maximize Customer Satisfaction. The greatest satisfaction for workers in a service industry is to see their customers smile.

・Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! Always be conscious of time. Take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team.

・Work in the capacity of a trusted advisor for our customers to gather requirements and identify opportunities with existing and new customers.

・Partner Sales/Account Managers to understand customer pain points and conduct white board network architectural reviews in addition to conducting presentations on Rakuten Symphony’s OSS products (Service Assurance, Site Management and Orchestration) 

・Perform hands-on tests to validate customer proof-of-concept setups.

・Partner with Sales Team to respond to RFP/RFQs

・Provide feedback to Product Management and Engineering

・Keep up-to-date on competitive solutions, products, and services