Koala is a global furniture brand bringing Australian design and innovation to the world. We create forward-thinking products that solve problems for people and homes everywhere, driven by our purpose to make the world a more comfortable place.
We’ve always believed in doing things differently, whether in the way we develop products, how we do people and culture, or the way we bring the brand to life. That mindset has fuelled our growth, helping us disrupt categories in ways that are creative, bold and often unexpected. While we’re a household name in Australia, our journey on the global stage is only just beginning.
Since launching in 2015, our furniture has reached homes across Australia, Japan, the US and the UK. As a B Corp-certified, customer-obsessed, and data-led company, we’re committed to revolutionising furniture for generations to come through design, innovation, and meaningful sustainability.
Role Description
As Koala continues to expand into existing and new channels to create new customers, we need to ensure we maintain a strong customer experience across all areas.
The EC Specialist in Japan is responsible for managing and optimizing the presence and performance of our product portfolio across various online marketplaces. This role involves strategic planning, executing sales strategies, and ensuring brand visibility and competitiveness in the Japanese e-commerce landscape.
This role will be a valuable contributor in helping Koala achieve its future revenue aspirations.
The position requires an innovative and agile mindset, as the role focuses on driving efficiencies within existing processes while also developing new processes that involve multiple stakeholders across the business.
Key Responsibilities
Marketplace Strategy & Revenue Growth:
Develop and execute marketplace strategies across key platforms in Japan to drive revenue growth, profitability, and market share. Identify and activate growth opportunities such as promotional campaigns, seasonal activations, pricing and bundling strategies, and platform-specific initiatives to continuously improve marketplace performance.
End-to-End Marketplace Management:
Manage and execute daily marketplace operations across platforms such as Rakuten, Yahoo! Shopping (and Amazon as optional) and emerging marketplaces. Maintain product listings, promotions, reviews, and inventory coordination to drive sales performance and customer satisfaction.
Search & Discoverability Optimization:
Improve product visibility through marketplace search optimization, keyword strategies, ranking improvements, and content optimization tailored to each platform's algorithm.
Advertising & Budget Management:
Manage and optimize advertising spend across marketplace ad formats to drive conversions and customer acquisition. Develop keyword strategies and conduct daily optimizations to maximize advertising efficiency and ROI.
Customer Experience & Brand Positioning:
Elevate Koala’s brand through premium product positioning, optimized content, and best-in-class customer service.
Data-Driven Decision Making:
Analyze marketplace performance using KPIs, competitive benchmarking, and trend analysis to identify opportunities for improvement.
Performance Reporting & Business Insights:
Develop marketplace performance reports and communicate actionable insights across traffic, conversion, revenue, advertising performance, and marketplace trends for internal stakeholders.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
Work closely with marketing, operations, product, and customer experience teams to ensure a seamless marketplace experience.
- Partner & Vendor Relations:
Build and maintain strong relationships with marketplace account managers, external vendors, and agencies to maximize opportunities and leverage platform incentives.
Ideal background
Bachelor’s degree or above in Business, Marketing, or a related field.
2+ years of e-commerce business experience preferred.
Fluent in Japanese is required; business-level English is preferred.
Strong understanding of digital marketplaces and the ability to drive revenue growth through digital channels.
Understanding of digital marketing strategies, including SEO, SEM, social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing.
Data analysis skills to track and measure the effectiveness of sales and marketing strategies.
Strong communication and collaboration skills to work with marketing and sales teams to develop and execute e-commerce strategies.
Experience with Japanese marketplaces such as Rakuten, Yahoo.( and Amazon as optional)
UI/UX knowledge is preferred to help optimize marketplace storefronts.
Treehouse Perks and Privileges
Koala is only as good as its employees are happy - and we’re one happy international bilingual bunch! We offer our teams hybrid working options and the freedom and autonomy to do their best work in a way that works for them! Whether that’s working your own version of 9-6, working from home in your pajamas from time to time or hanging out at our Treehouse (this is what we call our office digs) in Omotesando, or enjoying the 20+ days annual leave (+generous time off for volunteer, parental, Koala life leave and more) you decide whatever helps you find your flow! The Treehouse has plenty of social activities to get involved with, including Thursday lunches, and help you get to know your fellow Koalas better as well as free Koala products for all employees - who better to shout from the tree tops how awesome our products are, right?! We also recognise that we can’t grow as a brand unless we support the growth of our teams so this is a strong focus for us via our Learning Management platform Juno, as well as individual and team growth budgets and dedicated days. Lastly and importantly our employee experience respects and embraces all families, formed, found and evolving. You’ll have access to our Employee Assistance Program, which includes unlimited sessions for financial, work, relationship, family or wellbeing support. We believe that simply doing ‘no harm’ isn’t good enough. So, how are we doing our part? BCorp Certified, WWF Partnership, volunteer days, a member of SoftLanding, 1% and so much more.
All in all, the Koala Kommunity is a great place to hang out and belong to!
Koalities We Look For
At Koala, we do things a little differently and we don’t shy away from the fact that we expect a lot from our employees! We want you to challenge expectations, always look to make a difference and give us something different from the norm. We want people that bring great energy, that have a long-game focus and are always curious to find new angles and approaches to the way we work. We're a team full of entrepreneurial spirit and have a relentless focus on 'what's next' but while always reviewing 'what's been done' and learning, growing and adapting. We're confident, but NEVER arrogant and we adapt to change uber quickly. Honesty and selflessness drive everything we do, as well as a total focus on exceeding our customers’ expectations. So if you feel like this could be you... well what are you waiting for? Drop us a line, and let's see what you've got! ;)
There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate, Koala is a place where everyone has opportunity. So however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day. We’re an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that a diverse workforce is crucial to our success as a business.
To read more, check out our careers, LinkedIn, or the great work we do with Work180.
