Job Description:

Rakuten International oversees 7 businesses with over 4,000 employees globally. The brand is recognized for its leadership and innovation in e-commerce, digital content, advertising, entertainment and communications, bringing the joy of discovery and access to more than 1 billion members across the world. Our teams deliver on the company’s mission to delight merchants and customers through innovation, optimism, and teamwork.

Rakuten Rewards is a leading e-commerce company that enhances the way people shop by offering Cash Back, deals and rewards from more than 3,500 merchants. Founded in 1999, Rakuten has grown to become the go-to shopping destination for consumers, having paid out nearly $2 billion in Cash Back to its 15 million members. The company also operates ShopStyle, a leading fashion discovery destination, and Cartera Commerce, a top rewards platform for airlines and banks. For more information, visit www.rakuten.com.
 

JOB SUMMARY:

Rakuten is seeking a Contractor Director of Consumer Communications to develop and execute a communications strategy to increase brand awareness, build our reputation with consumers and position Rakuten as the #1 shopping destination that delivers cash back on all our purchases. This role reports directly to the Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Creative.

Our ideal candidate is a proactive communicator and exceptional writer with deep experience in communications. You have a true passion for storytelling and can build and execute communications strategies across both trade and consumer media. You are quick on your feet, obsessed with details, passionate about building brands and have been successful at fostering meaningful relationships with media. You understand the importance of knowing your audience, what resonates with them and how to distill complex ideas into fresh, creative, and compelling stories. You bring an existing and extensive network of media contacts from key consumer outlets.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Collaborate with cross functionally leaders to develop and refine Rakuten’s key messaging and communications strategy. Identify creative ways to expand and tell our story to various audiences, amplify key business milestones and leverage culturally relevant moments across a variety of consumer media channels.
• Bring the brand to life and support the broader marketing goal of making Rakuten a household name by inspiring customers and building brand loyalty for Rakuten.
• Identify, own, and foster key consumer and trade media relationships. Be able to translate brand/business announcements and initiatives to consumer press through keen positioning and relevant storytelling all with the goal of gaining meaningful press coverage.
• Manage external PR agencies day-to-day. Keep them accountable to KPIs and help ideate and implement short- and long-term media plan. Develop strategic plans to elevate new product launches, marketing campaigns and evergreen narratives.
• Develop compelling written content by contributing to press releases, company statements, Q&A/talking points, briefings, award nominations and media pitches.
• Work with key leaders on media opportunities, interview prep and thought leadership with the industry trades. Create and conduct media briefings for key company spokespeople, facilitate interviews, and share read-outs for visibility.
• Lead a high-performing nimble team. Develop and encourage bold and creative thinking.
• Partner closely with brand, internal communications, and HR teams to execute employer brand initiatives to evangelize our current work force and position Rakuten a top place to work.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience leading and/or building high performing communications teams and managing external agencies, but also eager to roll up your own sleeves to “lead from the front.”
• Strong business acumen and knowledge of the retail environment, media landscape and an ability to distill trends into communication implications.
• Creative, with the ability to conceptualize newsworthy moments, develop story ideas and follow through with pitches that land great coverage.
• Able to measure success and report on what's working and what's not so we can iterate and improve on a regular basis.
• Excellent written, verbal and communication skills.
• Demonstrable project management skills, including ability to manage several campaigns and initiatives/events at once
• Understanding of and experience using traditional and digital communications tools

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

• 10-15 years of relevant experience, with a preference for a combination of agency and in-house experience at high-growth companies. Fashion, retail, or ecommerce experience a plus

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the hourly rate for this role will be between RANGE/hr. 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. 

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

Rakuten provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Rakuten considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.