Senior IT Sourcing Specialist - IT Procurement Office, IT Sourcing Group, Technology Management Services Supervisory Department (TMSSD)

Job Description:

Business Overview

The Technology Management Division (TMD) provides Corporate IT, and Cyber Security & Privacy Governance to Rakuten Group companies and essential business management for technology organizations, thereby enabling innovation and strengthening the technology foundation. Within TMD, the Technology Management Services Supervisory Department (TMSSD) plays a vital role in CIO Governance, IT financial management, IT procurement, Quality Management System (QMS), technology-related public relations, and human resources strategy. By promoting efficiency, quality, risk management, and organizational strength, we ensure that Tech Divisions remain agile and at the forefront of technological advancement.

Department Overview

The IT Procurement Office is responsible for procuring IT products and services for Rakuten Group, Inc. and selected group companies. Our mission is to support the growth of Rakuten Group by optimizing not only cost, but also quality, speed, risk, and contractual terms through strategic IT procurement.  The scale of our transactions and the continuous adoption of new technologies and services provide opportunities to lead complex sourcing initiatives and deepen your expertise in IT procurement.

The IT Procurement Office consists of three groups: the IT Purchasing Group, which is responsible for executing procurement operations efficiently, quickly, and accurately; the IT Sourcing Group, which focuses on reducing and optimizing procurement costs; and the Admin Group, which provides cross-functional support.  

The IT Sourcing Group develops and executes sourcing strategies in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, including senior executives, in addition to negotiating with suppliers.  

While developing category expertise across infrastructure, development outsourcing, cloud services, and other areas, the team also coordinates and negotiates global enterprise contracts for strategic IT products used across Rakuten Group as the headquarters procurement organization.  

This role offers opportunities to lead large and complex transactions and broaden your experience in IT procurement, strategy development, negotiation, and stakeholder management. 

Position:

Why We Hire

As Rakuten Group expands its businesses and advances its IT investments, the IT Procurement Office is strengthening strategic sourcing. We are seeking an experienced professional who can lead market analysis by category, align requirements with internal stakeholders, negotiate with suppliers, and improve cost efficiency and procurement value across the Group.

Position Details

The IT Procurement Office drives the procurement of IT products and services through appropriate supplier selection and optimization of commercial and contractual terms. In this role, you will manage the end-to-end sourcing lifecycle for assigned categories, from sourcing strategy development and internal requirement alignment to supplier selection, negotiation, contracting support, and ongoing supplier management.

Key responsibilities include: 
・Conducting market and spend analyses and developing and executing category sourcing strategies
・Aligning requirements and building consensus with internal stakeholders, including business units, engineering, information security, legal, and finance 
・Negotiating commercial and contractual terms with suppliers, including pricing, contract duration, service levels, delivery schedules, and quality
・Evaluating suppliers and managing supplier relationships, performance, and risk 
・Identifying and executing cost optimization and value improvement opportunities based on spend and commercial analysis
・Improving and streamlining procurement processes
・Conducting procurement activities in compliance with applicable laws, internal policies, and procurement governance
・Researching technology, market, and supplier trends, including developments in AI

Work Environment

The team is primarily composed of experienced mid-career hires, together with two employees who joined as new graduates. Members bring diverse professional backgrounds, including sales, systems engineering, procurement, and legal, and many have prior experience in the IT industry. The team collaborates by combining these different areas of expertise

Mandatory Qualifications:

・At least three years of hands-on sourcing experience for IT products or services.  
Examples of relevant sourcing experience include: 

・Experience managing the end-to-end sourcing process, including market research, internal requirement alignment, supplier selection, bid evaluation, and negotiation of pricing and contractual terms
・Experience leading consensus-building across multiple internal stakeholders, such as business units, engineering, information security, legal, and finance
・Experience analyzing procurement and quotation data to identify issues, develop negotiation strategies, and propose improvements
Examples of relevant IT product and service categories include: 
・IT hardware, including servers, storage, and network appliances
・Public cloud services, including AWS, Azure, and GCP 
・Software and SaaS, including CRM, CDN, and project management tools
Ability to approach work with the following mindsets: 
・Proactive and improvement-oriented. 
・Adaptable to change. 
・Comfortable working in ambiguous situations.

Desired Qualifications:

・Experience sourcing, negotiating, and managing large-scale or multi-country IT contracts
・Knowledge of market practices and contract models in cloud, SaaS, IT infrastructure, or development outsourcing
・Procurement or supply chain qualifications, such as CPP or CPSM. 
・Knowledge of legal and risk topics relevant to IT contracts, including subcontracting regulations, intellectual property, data protection, and information security
・Project management experience
・Experience analyzing spend, pricing, and contract data using Excel, BI tools, or similar applications
・Experience using AI-related services or a foundational qualification such as AI-900
 

#business #procurement #AI #technologymanagementdiv

Languages:

English (Overall - 3 - Advanced), Japanese (Overall - 4 - Fluent)