Senior Manager Japanese Bilingual

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Bilingual Sr. Manager with 7+ years of experience in project management, supply chain operations, and digital transformation to join our client's dynamic Supply Chain Solutions team.

This position is ideal for a candidate with strong expertise in supply chain business processes, cross-functional stakeholder management, and global project delivery, combined with exceptional bilingual communication skills and the ability to work effectively across multicultural environments.

The successful candidate will be responsible for leading cross-regional digital transformation initiatives, managing project plans, budgets, risks, and stakeholder communications, facilitating business requirements gathering, driving process improvements across supply chain functions, and ensuring successful alignment between business objectives and technology solutions for our client and its global partners .

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage cross-regional digital transformation projects involving stakeholders across North America and Asia-Pacific.
• Act as the primary liaison between business users, IT teams, external vendors, and executive leadership.
• Develop and manage project plans, schedules, budgets, risks, and dependencies.
• Facilitate workshops, requirements-gathering sessions, and steering committee meetings.
• Coordinate project activities across multiple time zones and business units.
• Translate business requirements into actionable project deliverables.
• Drive process improvement initiatives across supply chain functions.
• Monitor project progress and provide regular status updates to leadership teams.
• Ensure alignment between business objectives and technology solutions.
• Support change management, user adoption, and stakeholder communication activities.
• Collaborate with global teams and business stakeholders to ensure successful project delivery.

Required Qualifications Project Management

• 5+ years of project management experience leading large-scale business or IT transformation programs.
• Experience managing cross-functional and international project teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills.
• Experience with Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid project delivery methodologies.
• Strong project planning, risk management, budgeting, and delivery skills.

Supply Chain Expertise

Strong knowledge of supply chain business processes, including:

• Demand Planning
• Supply Planning
• Inventory Management
• Logistics & Distribution
• Procurement
• Supplier Collaboration
• Manufacturing Operations
• Ability to work directly with business leaders to identify process improvements and transformation opportunities.

Language Skills

• Business-level Japanese and English communication skills, both spoken and written.
• Ability to facilitate meetings and prepare project documentation in both languages.
• Strong ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders across multicultural and international environments.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Supply Chain, Information Technology, or a related technical discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Automotive industry supply chain experience strongly preferred.
• Experience working within automotive OEMs or automotive suppliers.
• Experience with supply chain transformation initiatives.
• Knowledge of ERP and supply chain platforms such as:
  • SAP
  • Oracle
  • Kinaxis
  • Blue Yonder
  • Manhattan
  • Microsoft Power Platform
• PMP, PMI-ACP, or equivalent certification preferred.
• Experience supporting global teams across North America and Asia-Pacific regions.

Soft Skills

• Strong leadership and facilitation skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Self-motivated and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong collaboration and teamwork mindset.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment.

Travel Requirements

• Occasional domestic and international travel may be required to support project activities and stakeholder engagement.
• Travel: Up to 10%.