Senior Bilingual Software Engineer (English/Japanese) – West Coast (U.S.)

Overview

We are seeking a highly capable Senior Bilingual Software Engineer to serve as the connective layer between our Forward-Deployed U.S. teams and our Platform Core Engineering team in Japan .

This role reports directly to the CTO , reflecting its strategic importance in aligning product direction, platform evolution, and field execution.

This role is not about language translation. In an AI-enabled environment, its core responsibility is context alignment and leverage maximization —ensuring both teams operate with a shared understanding of priorities, constraints, urgency, and intent.

You will play a critical role in making sure

• The Platform Core team focuses on the highest-impact problems , grounded in real-world usage

• The Forward-Deployed teams extract maximum value from the platform , leveraging it effectively and correctly

• This is a high-impact role at the center of a two-speed organization: fast-moving field execution and a scalable, reusable platform.

• Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary interface between Forward-Deployed U.S. teams and the Platform Core team in Japan , driving deep, bidirectional context alignment

• Continuously synthesize and communicate what is happening on the ground —including priorities, urgency, constraints, and team sentiment (“temperature”)

• Translate not just requirements, but intent, trade-offs, and decision rationale across both sides

• Influence platform roadmap and product strategy by ensuring decisions are grounded in real-world usage, high-impact opportunities, and evolving field needs

• Ensure the Platform Core team is working on the highest-value problems , with clear prioritization informed by field context

• Ensure Forward-Deployed teams fully leverage the platform , including understanding its capabilities, constraints, and intended design patterns

• Drive cross-regional program execution , including:

• Defining and maintaining clear priorities, milestones, and success criteria across teams

• Managing dependencies, risks, and trade-offs between Forward-Deployed and Platform Core workstreams

• Establishing and enforcing execution cadence (planning, check-ins, reviews) across time zones

• Ensuring accountability and follow-through on key initiatives

• Facilitate technical discussions, design reviews, and prioritization decisions across regions

• Improve internal systems for global collaboration, including documentation, communication cadence, and decision-making frameworks

Qualifications

• Required

• Near-native proficiency in both English and Japanese , capable of conveying nuanced context such as priorities, urgency, assumptions, and technical trade-offs.

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering , with strong exposure to system design and real-world implementation

• 4+ years of prior experience operating as a Software Engineer within a U.S.-based organization , where English was the primary language for technical discussions, design reviews, and deliverables, both orally and in writing.

• Strong understanding of modern software architecture (APIs, backend systems, data models)

• Proven ability to operate across product, engineering, and implementation contexts

• Experience working with distributed or cross-border teams

• Strong communication skills with the ability to convey nuanced context, not just information

• Preferred

• Experience in platform engineering or building extensible systems

• Familiarity with ERP, supply chain systems, or complex business applications

• Experience with SaaS integrations or composable/headless architectures

• Background in solution architecture or technical program management

• Experience in a startup or high-growth environment

• Experience or familiarity with modern systems programming languages (e.g., Go, Rust) and/or TypeScript, aligning with the Platform Core team's current or evolving technology stack.

• What Success Looks Like

• The Platform Core team consistently prioritizes high-impact work aligned with real field needs

• Forward-Deployed teams maximize leverage from the platform , minimizing unnecessary custom work

• Reduced rework and friction caused by misalignment in priorities, assumptions, or timing

• Clear and shared understanding of technical trade-offs and decision rationale across both teams

• Faster feedback loops between field execution and platform evolution

• High trust and strong collaboration across U.S. and Japan teams

• Location & Working Conditions

• Based on the U.S. West Coast (required)

• Hybrid or remote-friendly

• Open to working regular hours of 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM PT to maintain meaningful daily overlap with the Japan-based Platform Core team (required)

• Willingness to travel (~15%) , primarily to strengthen cross-regional collaboration and alignment

• Why This Role Matters

• As organizations scale globally, the challenge is not access to information—it is alignment on context, priorities, and intent .

• This role ensures that:

• The platform evolves in the right direction , focusing on what truly matters

• The field operates with maximum leverage , building on the platform instead of around it

• By synchronizing these two layers, you enable a system where speed and scalability reinforce each other , rather than compete.