Why this seat is different in Japan
Recruiting in Japan is a sourcing problem, not a screening problem. The job-to-applicant ratio (有効求人倍率) has sat above one for a decade, experienced bilingual candidates are mostly passive, and the market runs on agencies charging 30 to 35 percent of first-year pay and on scout-based direct recruiting platforms (ダイレクトリクルーティング: Bizreach and its peers) that do not exist in the same form elsewhere. A TA head who knows how to run a careers site and an applicant tracking system but has never built a sourcing engine in Japanese will not reduce your agency bill.
The pool is small and agency-trained. Most in-house recruiters in Tokyo came from agencies, which gives them sourcing skill and sometimes a short-term, placement-count mindset. In one search for a talent acquisition lead in semiconductors we approached more than 400 people to produce a shortlist, which is the highest ratio of any role we work on.
New-graduate hiring (新卒採用) is a separate machine with its own calendar, channels and etiquette. If your company does it, the TA head must know it or have someone who does.
Purpose of the role
Build and run a recruiting function that fills Japan's roles on time at a sustainable cost: direct sourcing first, agencies by design rather than by default, a candidate experience that reflects the employer brand in Japanese, and data that lets leadership plan.
Key responsibilities
Strategy and planning
- Build the annual hiring plan with HR and business leaders, including capacity, channel mix and budget.
- Set and report metrics that matter in Japan: time to fill, offer-acceptance rate, agency share of hires, cost per hire, source of hire.
Sourcing and channels
- Build direct sourcing capability on LinkedIn, direct-recruiting platforms and referrals, and reduce agency dependence to a deliberate level.
- Manage the agency panel: terms, performance, exclusivity decisions, retained search for senior seats.
- Run new-graduate recruiting where applicable.
Team and process
- Lead and coach the recruiting team, with explicit development for junior recruiters.
- Run a consistent interview process with trained hiring managers and structured feedback.
- Own the applicant tracking system and its data quality.
Employer brand and candidate experience
- Localise the employer brand in Japanese and keep the careers presence current.
- Make the candidate experience a selling point in a market where candidates compare employers on it.
Regional interface
- Report to regional TA on pipeline, risks and market intelligence, in English.
Candidate profile
Must have
- Eight or more years in recruiting with at least three leading an in-house team or function in Japan.
- A track record of building direct sourcing and measurably reducing agency reliance.
- Experience recruiting bilingual professional and management roles for a foreign-capital company.
- Comfort with recruiting data and the systems that produce it.
Preferred
- Agency background followed by in-house leadership. The combination is common and useful.
- New-graduate recruiting experience where relevant.
- Employer-brand or recruitment-marketing work in Japanese.
Language
- Japanese at native level for candidates, hiring managers and platforms.
- English at business level for regional reporting and non-Japanese hiring managers.
Decide before you post
- Japan-only or APAC remit, and where the recruiters sit.
- Current agency share of hires and the target. Candidates will ask.
- Volume and mix: experienced hires, new graduates, contract.
- Whether the role recruits personally. At most Japan subsidiaries the head of TA carries senior searches.
- The applicant tracking system and whether a change is planned.
How hard is this hire
Hard, which surprises hiring managers. Recruiters are not scarce; recruiting leaders who have built a direct-sourcing function in Japanese and can report to a regional head in English are. Expect three to five months. Searches fail when the budget assumes a recruiter's pay for a leader's job.
Interview questions that separate candidates
- What was your agency share of hires when you started your last role and when you left? What did you change?
- Walk me through how you fill a bilingual finance manager role in Tokyo with no agency.
- How do you run new-graduate recruiting alongside experienced hiring, if you have?
- Show me the dashboard you used. Which number did your HR Director care about most?
- Tell me about a hiring manager who would not follow the process. What did you do?
