Total Rewards Manager

Job Description:

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group Inc. a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals communities businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo California with more than 4000 employees worldwide the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce digital marketing advertising communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community.

Job Summary:

As a Total Rewards Manager (Systems & Rewards Operations) you will play a critical role within Rakutens Global Total Rewards organization serving as the operational and systems backbone that enables scalable compliant and data-driven rewards programs. This role sits at the intersection of strategy and execution partnering closely with Total Rewards Business Partners (GTR BPs) to translate business needs into system-enabled solutions. It is a highly visible global role requiring regular partnership with stakeholders across North America EMEA and APAC often balancing regional needs with global consistency.

You will work closely with HRIS to design configure test and deploy compensation programs in Workday Workday Advanced Compensation and related Total Rewards tools. You will also support compensation strategy through market analysis program administration governance and operational excellence. This is an ideal role for someone who combines strong compensation expertise with systems fluency analytical rigor and a continuous improvement mindset.

Key Responsibilities

Business-to-System Translation

• Partner with GTR Business Partners to intake and refine requirements across compensation programs including merit bonus equity and structural changes.
• Translate business requirements into detailed functional specifications for HRIS configuration and delivery.
• Drive scalable standardized solutions aligned to Rakutens Rewards Framework and governance standards.
• Challenge unnecessary customization and recommend best-practice alternatives.

Compensation Programs & Operations

• Lead setup execution and support of annual and off-cycle compensation processes.
• Manage plan design administration eligibility rules budget allocation logic and compensation statements.
• Conduct market benchmarking pay analysis cost modeling and internal equity reviews.
• Support new entities acquisitions and evolving compensation frameworks globally.

Systems Testing & Release Management

• Own end-to-end UAT strategy for compensation-related enhancements and releases.
• Build test scripts scenarios and validation frameworks across global use cases.
• Partner with HRIS to troubleshoot defects validate fixes and ensure production readiness.
• Maintain reusable testing libraries SOPs and documentation.

Governance Data Integrity & Compliance

• Ensure compensation data accuracy through audits reconciliations and controls.
• Maintain confidentiality and compliance with regulatory and internal standards.
• Define metrics and KPIs to evaluate program effectiveness adoption and efficiency.
• Ensure Workday remains the source of truth for compensation data.

Change Management & Stakeholder Support

• Develop communications training materials and manager guidance for compensation cycles and process changes across multiple regions and business groups.
• Simplify complex system logic into clear user-friendly guidance.
• Partner with HRBPs and business leaders to support adoption and downstream change management.
• Present insights and recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Continuous Improvement & AI Enablement

• Identify automation opportunities that reduce manual work and improve accuracy.
• Leverage AI capabilities within Workday and adjacent tools for analytics anomaly detection and decision support.
• Act as a thought partner in evolving Rakutens next-generation Total Rewards infrastructure.

Qualifications:

• Advanced hands-on experience with Workday Compensation and Workday Advanced Compensation.
• Strong knowledge of EIBs business processes reporting and configuration logic.
• Proven ability to translate business requirements into scalable system solutions.
• Strong analytical skills with advanced Excel and experience validating complex datasets.
• Knowledge of compensation principles including market pricing incentive design pay equity and governance.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders across cultures functions and geographic regions.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• High attention to detail discretion and commitment to data accuracy.
• Experience in a technology or multinational matrixed environment.
• Experience supporting global compensation cycles across multiple regions.
• Experience using AI-enabled HR technologies.

Minimum Requirements:

• 6 years of experience in Compensation Total Rewards Compensation Operations or HRIS within a global organization
• Bachelors Degree Required
• Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) PHR or SPHR certification preferred

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Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge set clear goals and engage your team

At the time of posting Rakuten expects the base compensation for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors including the skills qualifications and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus health vision dental insurance 401k matching PTO Volunteer Time Off (VTO) and other employee benefits as the company implements.