Product Operations Manager - Connected Car Tokyo

Join a global automotive group as a Product Operations Manager, helping improve customer experience and operational efficiency for next-generation connected car products.

This position acts as a critical bridge between engineering, product, design, executive leadership, customer-facing teams, and global offices. You will lead a broad range of product operations activities, including customer support operations, Jira support queue management, incident response, localisation, product documentation, Voice of Customer (VoC), and new feature launches.

You will oversee the operational processes that connect customers with technical and product teams, ensuring issues are triaged effectively, critical incidents are escalated appropriately, and customer feedback is translated into actionable product improvements.

The role also offers significant international exposure. You will collaborate closely with teams in Japan and the United States, use English regularly, and may travel to domestic automotive manufacturer locations and overseas offices when required.

For an experienced Product Operations, ITSM, Technical Support, or TAM professional, this is an opportunity to take greater ownership of operational strategy while contributing to the future of connected cars, automotive software, and next-generation mobility.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the development and improvement of customer support operations, partnering with engineers to organise product information and streamline technical escalation processes.
• Monitor the Jira support queue during weekday operating hours, performing initial triage, severity classification, and routing issues to the appropriate teams.
• Oversee incident management workflows, including escalation of Sev-1 incidents, progress tracking against SLOs, and preparation of status reports.
• Act as a bridge between development teams, executive leadership, and global offices to facilitate effective communication and issue resolution.
• Lead the creation, maintenance, and localisation of customer-facing and internal FAQs, product manuals, and knowledge base content.
• Establish and manage multilingual localisation processes supporting global product expansion, including quality control and external vendor management.
• Lead project coordination and cross-functional collaboration for major initiatives, including new feature releases and product launches.
• Analyse operational processes to identify inefficiencies and implement tools, best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Establish systems for collecting and analysing Voice of Customer (VoC) feedback and translate findings into actionable product improvement recommendations.
• Develop and monitor operational KPIs to support data-driven decision-making and continuous service improvement.
• Work closely with Product, Engineering, Design, Support, and other stakeholders to improve the end-to-end customer and product experience.
• Travel to domestic automotive manufacturer locations, US offices, or other relevant sites when required.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Experience:

• 4+ years of relevant experience in Product Operations, IT Service Management (ITSM), Technical Support Management, Technical Account Management (TAM), localisation, or a related field.
• 7+ years of total professional experience, including experience in L2/L3 technical support.
• Hands-on experience using Jira for incident management and other customer or technical support tools.
• Practical knowledge of mobile applications, cloud services, connected car technology, or automotive software.
• Experience improving business or operational processes and identifying opportunities to increase efficiency.
• Experience defining operational KPIs and using data to develop and implement improvement initiatives.
• Experience coordinating projects and activities across multiple functions and stakeholder groups.
• Bachelor's degree.

Soft Skills:

• Strong cross-functional communication skills and the ability to make effective prioritisation decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to build trusted relationships and influence stakeholders across large organisations and geographically distributed global teams.
• Strong customer-focused mindset with a commitment to improving the user and customer experience.
• High level of initiative, ownership, and self-management.
• Ability to lead teams and stakeholders towards shared operational and product objectives.
• Strong coordination and problem-solving skills when managing incidents, escalations, and competing priorities.
• Comfortable working in a multicultural and collaborative global environment.

Language Requirements:

• Japanese: Native or equivalent level
• English: Business level across speaking, reading, and writing

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

• Ability to read code and perform basic debugging using tools or technologies such as GitHub, Swift, and server logs.
• Professional background in the automotive industry or knowledge of connected car technologies.
• Practical experience conducting user research.
• Knowledge of best practices for creating and maintaining product documentation.

About the Company

Our client is a global automotive technology and software company belonging to a major automotive manufacturer group.

The organisation develops next-generation software for connected cars and mobility services, using advanced technologies to create safer and more comfortable mobility experiences for drivers around the world.

The working environment is open, flexible, and collaborative, bringing together professionals from diverse nationalities and backgrounds.

Why You'll Love Working Here

• Work on cutting-edge connected car and mobility technology while benefiting from the stable business foundation of a major automotive group.
• Collaborate in a global development environment centred around teams in Japan and the United States, with regular opportunities to use English.
• Lead high-impact initiatives ranging from operational process design and incident management to new feature and product launches.
• Play an influential role in connecting customer feedback with Engineering and Product teams through Voice of Customer (VoC) programmes.
• Gain broad exposure across Product Operations, ITSM, technical support, localisation, product documentation, and customer experience.
• Help shape operational processes and introduce tools and best practices rather than simply maintaining established workflows.
• Develop your career in an open, collaborative, and internationally diverse environment.
• Benefit from remote/WFH options and casual clothing.
• Competitive compensation.

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