The work

Working closely with Rewards leadership, the Director defines how information flows from executives through leaders and managers to employees. The role advises on communications for product changes, organisational shifts and strategic pivots, equips leaders to discuss strategy with their teams, and coordinates with Rakuten International communications when an enterprise message needs to be unified.

The Director builds and executes a communications strategy that explains what major announcements mean for employees. In partnership with HR, they connect onboarding, career development and role-change communications to company priorities. Pulse surveys, channel analytics and manager feedback help identify gaps in understanding; the role sets comprehension KPIs and brings leaders recommendations on what to do about those gaps. Success measures include year-over-year survey results on engagement and strategic understanding, clarity about how work connects to priorities, employee ratings of leadership communication, comprehension across channels and clarity during major initiatives and transitions.

The role owns content strategy and execution for All Hands meetings and Leadership Summits, from agendas and speaker preparation to slides, run-of-show and follow-through. The Director builds systems to improve these recurring programmes over time and manages internal channels, including newsletters, the intranet and video, setting priorities and a consistent editorial cadence.

Qualifications

Requirements

• 7–12 years in internal or employee communications, including experience advising senior leaders.
• A track record of improving employee understanding or engagement.
• Background in a relevant industry, such as consumer tech, digital advertising or technology, e-commerce, or a fast-moving product company; the specific backgrounds preferred are listed below.
• Ability to navigate complex organisational dynamics and balance the needs of cross-functional teams, including Product, Marketing, Technology and HR.

Skills

• Plain-language writing that makes strategy relevant to employees, and enough business understanding to translate operating context into clear narratives.
• Operational discipline to run recurring programmes and use survey results and channel metrics to adjust the approach.
• Ability to counsel and, when warranted, challenge senior leaders, and earn trust without formal authority.
• Technology literacy, including the ability to help employees navigate AI adoption.

Preferred qualifications

• Among relevant industry backgrounds, consumer tech, ad tech and e-commerce are preferred.
• Global or multinational experience is a plus.