Head of Technology & Product Engineering - Tokyo

An established international retail and consumer business is seeking an experienced Head of Technology & Product Engineering to lead its technology vision, product development strategy, and software engineering organization in Tokyo.

This executive leadership position combines technology strategy, product engineering, hands-on software development, cloud architecture, and applied artificial intelligence (AI) to drive business growth, enhance customer experiences, and improve operational efficiency across multiple international markets.

You will take ownership of the company's technology roadmap, product strategy, and engineering direction, ensuring that technology investments align with commercial objectives and long-term business priorities.

Unlike a purely strategic leadership role, this position requires a hands-on technology executive who can make critical architectural decisions, contribute to backend engineering, resolve complex production issues, and guide engineering teams through large-scale technology transformation.

You will lead the modernization of legacy platforms, cloud-native systems, and e-commerce technology infrastructure, while introducing practical AI, machine learning (ML), large language models (LLMs), and automation solutions into customer-facing products and internal operations.

This opportunity is ideal for experienced technology leaders with a strong background in Software Engineering Leadership, Product Development, Cloud Infrastructure, AI Engineering, and Digital Transformation, who want to shape technology strategy within a global retail and e-commerce organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and execute the company's technology vision, product roadmap, and software engineering strategy, aligning technical investments with business growth and customer experience objectives.
• Lead strategic technology decisions covering product development, software architecture, engineering operations, and infrastructure modernization.
• Remain actively involved in backend engineering, system architecture, cloud infrastructure, and production-level technical problem-solving.
• Drive the modernization of legacy applications and enterprise technology platforms to improve scalability, reliability, and performance.
• Design and develop cloud-native, distributed systems supporting international retail and e-commerce operations.
• Oversee the development and optimization of APIs, databases, event-driven architectures, and backend services.
• Identify and implement opportunities to apply artificial intelligence, machine learning, and LLM-powered applications across digital products and business processes.
• Lead the delivery of AI-enabled solutions and automation capabilities into production environments.
• Establish scalable engineering practices covering CI/CD, containerization, Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, and infrastructure automation.
• Partner with business and product stakeholders to translate commercial objectives into measurable technology outcomes.
• Build and develop a high-performing software engineering and product organization.
• Recruit and mentor engineering leaders, managers, and technical specialists.
• Establish effective software development processes, engineering standards, and technical governance practices.
• Collaborate with global engineering teams to leverage shared technology platforms and international technical expertise.
• Support technology initiatives across multiple markets, ensuring systems can scale with business expansion.
• Evaluate technology investments, architectural trade-offs, and product priorities to maximize long-term business value.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Experience:

• 12+ years of professional software engineering experience, primarily within product-led organizations.
• Proven experience building, deploying, and operating business-critical production software systems.
• Strong track record of leading software engineering teams, developing engineering managers, and building high-performing technical organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to remain hands-on with software architecture and production-level engineering while holding senior leadership responsibilities.
• Advanced backend engineering expertise in Java, Spring Boot, or an equivalent modern technology stack.
• Strong technical knowledge of distributed systems, APIs, databases, and event-driven architectures.
• Extensive practical experience with cloud-native infrastructure, including AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or Microsoft Azure.
• Experience implementing containerization, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure automation.
• Proven experience delivering AI, machine learning, or large language model (LLM)-powered systems into production.
• Strong understanding of product development, technical architecture, and engineering strategy.
• Ability to connect technology investments and architectural decisions to measurable business outcomes.
• Bachelor's degree.

Soft Skills:

• Exceptional strategic thinking and technology leadership capabilities.
• Ability to translate complex business objectives into clear technical priorities, product roadmaps, and engineering initiatives.
• Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Proven ability to collaborate with international, cross-functional engineering and business teams.
• Hands-on leadership style with a strong ownership mindset and problem-solving approach.
• Ability to make sound technical and commercial trade-offs in complex or ambiguous environments.
• Strong mentoring, coaching, and organizational development capabilities.
• Excellent analytical thinking, decision-making, and prioritization skills.
• Ability to balance long-term technology strategy with hands-on engineering execution.
• Collaborative and adaptable mindset suited to a growing international technology organization.

Language Requirements:

• Japanese: Fluent
• English: Fluent

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

• Experience serving as a Head of Engineering, VP of Engineering, CTO, Head of Technology, or senior technology executive.
• Background in retail, e-commerce, consumer technology, digital commerce, or international product-led businesses.
• Experience modernizing legacy platforms and large-scale enterprise applications.
• Expertise in designing scalable cloud-native architectures and high-availability distributed systems.
• Experience delivering generative AI, LLM-based applications, AI automation, or machine learning solutions into production.
• Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices, DevOps, platform engineering, and cloud infrastructure optimization.
• Experience leading technology organizations across multiple countries or regions.
• Proven success building engineering leadership teams and scalable product development organizations.
• Experience balancing product strategy, customer experience, engineering execution, and business performance.
• Interest in applying emerging technologies to digital retail innovation and global e-commerce transformation.

About the Company

Morgan McKinley is partnering with an established international consumer and retail business with a strong physical retail presence and an expanding digital commerce operation across multiple markets.

The organization operates in a competitive global consumer market and is investing in modern technology platforms, software engineering capabilities, data infrastructure, and artificial intelligence to improve customer experiences and operational performance.

Its technology transformation strategy focuses on modernizing existing platforms, building scalable digital products, and leveraging cloud-native technologies, AI-driven innovation, and data-enabled business solutions.

The company's global technology organization provides access to international engineering talent, shared technology platforms, and cross-regional collaboration opportunities.

This position offers a unique opportunity to shape the company's product engineering strategy, technology architecture, and long-term digital transformation roadmap while working closely with senior leadership across international markets.

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Take on an executive technology leadership position with ownership of both product direction and engineering strategy.
• Shape the company's long-term technology vision, software architecture, and product roadmap.
• Work directly with senior business leaders and global technology executives to influence strategic priorities.
• Lead the modernization of legacy technology platforms and large-scale cloud-native systems.
• Drive the implementation of AI, machine learning, generative AI, and LLM-powered applications.
• Maintain a hands-on engineering role while leading strategic technology decisions.
• Build, mentor, and scale a high-performing international engineering and product organization.
• Collaborate with global engineering teams and international technology specialists.
• Influence technology initiatives across multiple retail and e-commerce markets.
• Lead the development of scalable, reliable, and customer-focused digital products.
• Enjoy significant ownership, autonomy, and influence over technology investment and architectural decisions.
• Contribute directly to business growth, digital transformation, and customer experience innovation.
• Advance your executive career in Technology Leadership, Product Engineering, AI Engineering, Cloud Architecture, and Digital Commerce.

Don't Miss Out - Apply Now!