Job Description:

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community. 

  
Rakuten is the most rewarding way to shop, giving millions of members Cash Back when they buy from their favorite brands. As a leading shopping platform, Rakuten partners with thousands of top brands across apparel, beauty and wellness, grocery, travel, on-demand services, subscriptions, and dining, helping members save on everyday purchases. Since 1999, Rakuten members have earned more than $4.6 billion in Cash Back, making it the largest Cash Back platform of its kind. Learn more at Rakuten.com.

Job Summary:

Rakuten is seeking a Director of Consumer Communications to lead the development and execution of a global, integrated communications strategy that increases brand awareness, builds trust with consumers, and drives long-term brand loyalty. This role plays a critical leadership function in managing communications across key international markets—including the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.—ensuring a consistent global narrative while tailoring strategies to local audiences.

You will position Rakuten as the #1 shopping destination for earning rewards on everyday purchases, while overseeing agency partners and cross-regional execution to deliver measurable business impact. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President of Brand, Creative and Communications, this role is both strategic and hands-on, with significant visibility across senior leadership.

The ideal candidate is a proactive communicator and exceptional writer with deep experience in B2C public relations and global brand storytelling. You bring a passion for culturally relevant narratives and have a proven track record of executing high-impact communications strategies across top-tier consumer media. You are agile, detail-oriented, and results-driven, with strong media relationships and the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders. You understand how to connect with diverse audiences and distill complex ideas into compelling, creative stories that drive engagement and growth.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a senior communications advisor to internal stakeholders and executive leadership, providing a strong point of view, clear recommendations, and data-driven counsel in a fast-paced environment.

• Lead the development and execution of a cohesive global consumer communications strategy across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., ensuring alignment across regions while allowing for local market nuance; oversee and manage external PR agencies in each market, driving strategic integration, fostering bold thinking, and holding partners accountable to performance metrics and business outcomes.

• Partner with cross-functional leaders to refine Rakuten’s messaging and narrative framework, aligning communications with broader brand and business priorities.

• Identify innovative and culturally relevant ways to tell Rakuten’s story, translating business priorities, product innovation, and partnerships into compelling consumer narratives.

• Identify and activate high-impact opportunities to amplify Rakuten’s brand and business partnerships—including collaborations with American Express and Bilt—by developing integrated communications strategies that drive awareness, credibility, and customer acquisition.

• Partner with the Sports & Entertainment team to support communications strategies tied to marquee partnerships—including the Golden State Warriors, Golden State Valkyries, and San Francisco 49ers—shaping narratives, managing media engagement, preparing spokespeople, and amplifying culturally relevant moments that drive brand awareness, credibility, and customer acquisition.

• Lead media strategy and execution, including interview preparation, thought leadership development, media briefings, and coverage amplification.

• Create high-quality written content, including press releases, statements, Q&A, briefing materials, award submissions, and media pitches.

• Define and evolve measurement frameworks, including media quality, message pull-through, attribution, and impact on brand and growth KPIs; regularly report insights to leadership.

• Integrate AI and LLM considerations into communications strategy, ensuring earned media and brand narratives are optimized for AI-driven search and discovery.

• Support crisis communications and reputation management, partnering with global teams to protect and strengthen brand trust.

Minimum Requirements:

• Proven experience leading global communications programs and managing multiple external PR agencies, with a hands-on, “lead from the front” approach.

• Strong experience overseeing agency strategy, performance, and relationships—driving accountability, creativity, and measurable business impact.

• Strong business acumen and deep understanding of the retail, ecommerce, and media landscapes.

• Experience partnering with performance marketing, growth, or partnerships teams, with a clear understanding of how communications drives acquisition and retention.

• Highly creative storyteller with a track record of generating newsworthy ideas and securing impactful media coverage.

• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to measure performance and continuously optimize strategies.

• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, matrixed organizations with evolving priorities.

• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.

• Experience with both traditional and digital communications tools and platforms.

Qualifications:

• 10–15 years of relevant experience, ideally across both agency and in-house roles at high-growth companies.

• Demonstrated experience managing global or multi-regional communications programs.

• Experience in fashion, retail, ecommerce, or consumer technology strongly preferred.

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Five Principles for Success
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
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 succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Rakuten considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.

As part of our Rakuten interview process, we encourage applicants to use their own words, rather than AI-generated content. Tell us your story in a way that's personal and authentic.

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the base compensation for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus, health, vision, dental insurance, 401k matching, PTO, Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.