Executive Search For
Japan’s IT Market

Find Work

Having a career roadmap is vital to long-term success. We can help you make one.

LEARN MORE
Find Talent

We are experts at recruiting talent in Japan. Here is what we can do for you.

LEARN MORE
100%

Success Rate on Retained Searches

100+

Completed Country Manager Searches

1,000+

Completed Searches

10+ years

Average Recruitment Experience
of Our Consultants

50+

Companies SoftSource Helped Enter
the Japan Market

  • OneConcern-logo
  • Avira-logo
  • Auth0-logo
  • Sonos-logo
  • Looker-logo
  • Box Japan-logo
  • CircleCI-logo

“SoftSource has been a trusted adviser as we seek to plant our flag in Japan. We have unique recruiting requirements, and SoftSource moved quickly to find us the right candidates who are as mission-driven as we are.”

JOE PALUSKA, ONECONCERN, HEAD OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

“This has been my best recruiting experience in 20 years of doing business in the region. From start to finish it has been a pleasure and a great experience. I’d be happy to go on record as an endorsement or reference for SoftSource anytime.
We continue to use SoftSource for all of our hiring in Japan.”

NICK TURNBULL, AVIRA, VP OF APAC

“SoftSource’s Japan market insight and ability to locate hard-to-find candidates quickly is outstanding.”

RICHARD MARR, AUTH0, APAC, REGIONAL DIRECTOR

“SoftSource was great. Unique opportunities, great insight, and coached me to success!”

KAZUNOBU SETO, SONOS, JP COUNTRY MANAGER

“SoftSource has been my best recruiting partner for 10+ years and they keep supplying qualified talent in a short window of time which has helped me start this business with velocity.”

SHOJI OZAWA, LOOKER DATA SCIENCES INC., VP & JAPAN COUNTRY MANAGER

“I’ve had a relationship with SoftSource for 10+ years. They have introduced me to great talent and have supported me personally by introducing me to my previous and current jobs. Their mid- and long-term career advise has been invaluable for me.”

KIYO TAKAYAMA, BOX JAPAN, SENIOR SALES DIRECTOR

“At CircleCI, we are looking for more than just technical skills or familiarity with the developer market. Our ideal hire is someone who cares deeply about the experience of developers using our tools, has empathy for their team, and brings pride and creativity to their work. The SoftSource team has been instrumental in helping us find candidates who meet our ideal mix of technical skill and passion for the problem we are trying to solve.”

JIM ROSE, CIRCLECI, CEO

Find Work

Our Expertise

SoftSource takes pride in having introduced the initial hires for 50+ technology companies entering the Japan market. We partner with venture capital firms in Silicon Valley to identify and support companies in areas including DevOps, cloud, marketing technology, cybersecurity, analytics/ AI as they expand into the Japan market. The searches we perform cover the following positions (staff / management levels):

  • - Japan Country Manager:Retained-basis only
  • - Sales:Direct, Partner, Hi-Touch, Alliance, Business Development, etc.
  • - Engineering:Pre-Sales, Delivery, Development, Customer Success, Support, etc.
  • - Marketing:Field, Digital, Events, Product, PR, Evangelism, Demand Generation, etc.
Our Clients:
New Entrants to
the Japan Market

Although some still call them ‘start-ups’, many companies entering Japan are already global leaders in their category, and sometimes have valuations of $1 billion or more. These companies have typically done their due diligence and recognize the importance of a localized product and local business strategy. Because of this new entrants to the Japan market are experiencing faster growth and higher rates of success than we saw from new entrants to the market in years past.

What this means
for you

Most SoftSource members come from enterprise IT and have backgrounds in areas such as business applications, marketing technology, and infrastructure. Our consultants also average more than 12 years of Japan recruitment expertise. This experience not only enables us to better identify potential opportunities for you, but also to advise, educate, and prepare you to challenge opportunities. At SoftSource 1 out of every 6 interviews results in a successful hire – This is more than 3x better than Japan’s industry average of 1 out of 20.

Find Talent

Who We Help

SoftSource helps innovative technology companies as they look to enter the Japan market, and a majority of companies we support are from the San Francisco Bay Area/ Silicon Valley. We have helped more than 50 companies to enter the Japan market successfully in areas including DevOps, cloud, marketing technology, cybersecurity, analytics/ AI.

The Searches
We Perform

We perform searches for full-time mid-career hires in the following core functional areas (staff / management levels):

  • - Japan Country Manager:Retained-basis only
  • - Sales:Direct, Partner, Hi-Touch, Alliance, Business Development, etc.
  • - Engineering:Pre-Sales, Delivery, Development, Customer Success, Support, etc.
  • - Marketing:Field, Digital, Events, Product, PR, Evangelism, Demand Generation, etc.
Engagement
Options

We perform searches on both retained and contingency bases. Japan Country Manager and 1st Japan employee searches are performed on a retained basis only, and other roles are performed on a contingency basis unless there is heightened sense of urgency or need for confidentiality.

Quality

At SoftSource we pride ourselves on achieving a significantly higher level of quality than the rest of the market. Overall we succeed in making 1 successful introduction for every 6 candidates we bring forward for an interview, and that ratio is roughly 3x better than the industry average. This means you spend less time interviewing, and more time driving your business.