Japan - US Business News

Japan - US Jobs available

Jobs labeled OPEN are still available now at a major U.S. corporation with offices in Japan. All positions require fluency in Japanese and English, are Right to Hire consulting positions and require the candidates to be either a Green Card Holder, EAD or a US Citizen:

Job 1: Team Lead, Systems Consulting - Position filled

Job 2: Technical Architect - Position filled

Job 3: Procurement Analyst - Open

Job 4: Architecture Specialist - Open

Job 5: Database Administrator - Position filled

Job 6: Systems Analyst - Position filled

Job 7: Problem Management Lead - Open

Job 8: Architecture Specialist (2) - Open

Job 9: Telecom Network Specialist - Open

Good Luck!

If you are interested in any of these positions and possess the required qualifications, please contact: Yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Mention where you saw the ad.

Open Position 8: Architecture Specialist (2)

The Corporate Technology Management (CTM) department of a Fortune 500 company is expanding its current domestic infrastructure support to include their businesses in Japan.  This new expansion of international support will span four technology platforms: Network (voice and data), Mainframe, Wintel, and UNIX.
 
They are seeking a Architecture Specialist. The selected candidate will work with the CTM's
Distributed Storage Engineering Group.   Primary responsibilities would include development, testing, maintenance, troubleshooting and installation support for the following environments:  IBM and HDS SAN
Storage, Cisco Fiber Networks, NAS Appliances and all related software such as Performance Monitoring, Device Management, Problem Notification and related technologies.

Location:  Newark, NJ
Target Start Date:  ASAP
Years of Experience:  2-3 years
Right  to  hire:   Yes (within first 3 months)
Salary Range:  Based on candidate’s experience

Other responsibilities would include system automation, networking and customer support for the suite of products that make up the environment. The ideal candidate should have the significant working experience in the required technical areas, be highly motivated and have excellent communication skills.

Experience in the following areas required:

• Storage Area Networks
• Network Attached Storage

Experience in any of the following would be plus:
·     IBM Total Productivity Center (TPC)
·     IBM, Hitachi and NetApp storage devices
·     Storage Virtualization (IBM SAN Volume Controller)
·     Cisco fiber channel technology
·     Fiber tape solutions
·     Storage Based Snapshots
·     Storage Based Replication

Additional job requirements include:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work overtime as required
• Provide 7x24 support when required
• Provide off-hour problem and change implementation support
• Produce technical documentation including operations run books, user guides, engineering architecture and blueprint documents
• Knowledge of Japanese culture and business practices
• Bilingual – Fluent with English and Japanese (preferably Level 1 language proficiency certification)
• Writing or assisting with the business, technical and functional requirements for the project in both English and Japanese and translation between both languages
• Work with the Japanese team to understand the application environment and criticality levels including impact on infrastructure and vice versa (infrastructure change impact to applications)
• Travel to Japan may or may not be required (expenses will be covered)

 If you are interested in this position and possess the required qualifications, please contact: Yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Use code:JUSNEWS8. Mention where you saw the ad.

AIG is Direct (and that is a good thing)

I received a statement from AIG yesterday via e-mail in which they wanted to "share facts with me and in turn my readers as to AIG's strong commitment to Asia - and to all of their insurance policy holders globally".

In the spirit of why I created the blog, to write about interesting and innovative things that individuals and companies are doing in Japan-US business these days, I think AIG's efforts to make sure the public is kept abreast of what is happening and offering reassurance is a good thing. 

It was not until I read this statement that I realized, companies can also be innovative in the handling of issues and problems as well. 

I once attended a presentation by a VP of AIG in NY. He spoke about the building of AIG's successful business in Japan and I admired greatly their willingness to go out on a limb and try something that had not been done before in Japan.

I am sure that AIG will manage this crisis very well indeed if they employ a similar willingness to utilize the 'new method' of proactively trying to inform and reassure their customers in the Japan-US business community. 

For those of us who have lived in Japan, we have often seen Japanese company executives offer tearful apologies when caught in any wrongdoing. I often felt that those tears were false and offered up to avoid taking any real responsibility. It would have been far more honorable and responsible for them to apologize and own up to what they did and how they were going to at least attempt to address and fix the problem.

As I wrote in More Money posting earlier this week, business is a cycle and as such, we have been here before. Companies, both large and small, have good times and bad times. For AIG, this is a bad time, a really bad time. Because it is a large company with a big footprint, their bad time affects many of us as well.  But at least (and you might disagree), they are trying to own up to this crisis and be as direct as possible with the public. 

'AIG is Direct' could be their new slogan.

Japan Times' Job Finder tool

As the market gets tighter and tighter, the Japan Times has just launched their new Job Finder tool on their website. I took a look and find it to be pretty good. I recently added a Recruiting - Jobs section on the blog to address the more high level bilingual positions that companies are seeking here in the U.S for their business integration efforts with their offices and clients in Japan.

In ramping up their classified section to reflect the competitive field of recruiting these days, the Japan Times is providing the qualified bilingual job seeker with better access to high skilled bilingual career opportunities from a variety of employers in Japan. They have direct hire and agency advertised positions.

I hope this new feature is a great success, especially the direct hire component, as this will help cut the astronomical cost of recruiting. 

I hope this new feature will put the paper and website in a stronger position as a source for business minded individuals. 

More Money, More Money, More Money

Markets are down. That is life. Business is a cycle and as such, we have been here before. The U.S. economy is in a pickle to put it lightly. The Japanese economy is not far behind. 

I read a few weeks ago on CNN that the Japanese government was unveiling a stimulus package with 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) in new spending to help its the flagging economy. How are they going to use that money? What companies are going to benefit from that new spending?

In the last week or so in the U.S. our government is bailing out AIG, Lehmans filed for bankruptcy and Bear Stearns went bust earlier in the year. It is understandable that governments’ need to help big companies such as these because they are so integrated in the fabric of the economy. But smaller companies are the actual fabric.

Is the Japanese government’s fresh $18 billion spending incentive going to trickle down to small Japanese companies? Are they going to spend money the same as in the past or are they going to get creative and utilize new methods that though unproven, might work better? 

The article states that funds are going to be range from discounts on expressway tolls to assistance to farms and help for part-time workers to find better jobs. I hope that means training these workers in high level new skills that will help them get better jobs.

In addition, this stimulus package will consist of non-spending measures such as loans to businesses. I hope that the majority goes to small to mid-size businesses to use for:

• Technology to improve business processes 
• Marketing themselves better
• Improving on Products/Services
• Employee training and development
• Identifying new opportunities/revenue streams
• Branching out and selling products/services to non-Japanese companies - doing business internationally

Money is always welcome, but in addition, the government should create programs on local levels to provide guidance to these smaller businesses in using the monetary assistance.

Open Position 7: Problem Management Lead

The Corporate Technology Management department of a Fortune 500 company is expanding its current domestic infrastructure support to include their businesses in Japan.  This new expansion of international support will span four technology platforms: Network (voice and data), Mainframe, Wintel, and UNIX.
 
They are seeking a Problem Management Lead. The selected candidates will be responsible for supporting the Company's IT Infrastructure with a working knowledge of multiple disciplines including Problem Management, Network Operations, and Server/Web application support.

Location:  Roseland, NJ
Target Start Date:  ASAP
Years of Experience:  3-5 years preferred
Working hours:  8:00pm-4:00am (to mirror Japan*s working hours)
Right to hire:  Yes (could be direct hire or within first couple of months)
Salary Range:  Based on candidate's experience.

The position will be heavily loaded as a Problem Manager with a focus on strong technical skills in the distributed, network technologies area's working to resolve all complex infrastructure problems in a timely fashion.
 
Responsibilities include:

• Resolving problems with a sense of urgency and minimizing the impact to businesses
• Very strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work well under pressure operating to strict deadlines are required
• Basic ability to lead and manage diverse groups of technicians and vendors in the problem solving process is also needed
• Creation and completion of Remedy Service, Problem and Change tickets within specific time frames ensuring defined SLAs are met

Job requirements:

• Possess technical knowledge to do hands on troubleshooting
• Experience in distributed, network technologies, with general mainframe knowledge as a plus
• Fundamental analytical, problem solving, and decision-making skills are necessary
   

Good working knowledge of the following products is preferred:

• Hardware and Operating systems:
  *     Cisco Routers and Switches
  *     IBM and HP Server hardware lines including IBM BladeCenters and HP Blades
  *     Unix and Linux including AIX and Solaris
  *     Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, DNS, TCP/IP, SMS and     Microsoft's management and troubleshooting tools
  *     VMWare Virtual Center
  *     F5 BigIP and 3DNS
  *     Veritas Netbackup and BackupExec
  *     Familiar with Microsoft Office products, Word, Excel, Visio and Lotus Notes
  *     Familiar with general Mainframe operations a plus
   
  Monitoring Tools:
  *     TBSM/Tivoli
  *     Netview
  *     IBM Topaz and Business Availability Center
  *     Intrusion Detection - McAfee Intrushield

If you are interested in this position and possess the required qualifications, please contact: Yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Use code: JUSNEWS7. Mention where you saw the ad.

Open Position 6: Systems Analyst

The Corporate Technology Management department of a major U.S. corporation is expanding its current domestic infrastructure support to include their businesses in Japan.  This new expansion of international support will span four technology platforms: Network (voice and data), Mainframe, Wintel, and
UNIX.

The selected candidate would be an experienced Systems Analyst in the area of web and e-Commerce application and infrastructure support who would plan for and implement migration of web applications for their Japan businesses from an outsourced provider to a Company managed environment.

Location:  Newark, NJ
Target Start Date:  ASAP
Years of Experience:  At least 5 years
Right to hire:  Yes (within first three months)
Salary Range:  Based on candidate’s experience

Primary Job Responsibilities:

• Integrate Java and .NET applications into Company's  e-Commerce environment
• Troubleshoot and analyze application and infrastructure issues
• Continuously improve technology and process to insure a highly available and secure e-Commerce environment for Company’s applications

Additional job responsibilities:

• Consult with business analysts and users regarding the nature of information processing and clarification of business requirements
• Work with peer group and management team to develop, document and revise systems design procedures as needed to ensure agreement on the hosting services
• Participate in systems analysis as needed for production support
  issues and bug fixes
• Act as key technical resource to development and testing staff in all phases of the development, testing and implementation process

Job requirements:

• Strong experience with Java/Websphere software
• Strong experience with UNIX command language
• Familiarity with Windows and .NET
• Familiarity with distributed enterprise application design and development
• Software development lifecycle methodology experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Bilingual – Fluent with English and Japanese (preferably Level 1 language proficiency       certification)
• Knowledge of Japanese culture and business practices
• Ability to work overtime as required
• Travel to Japan may or may not be required (expenses will be covered)
• Experience in the Financial Services industry is a plus

If you are interested in this position and possess the required qualifications, please contact: Yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Use code: JUSNEWS6. Mention where you saw the ad.

Open Position 3: Procurement Analyst

The Corporate Technology Management department of a major U.S. company is expanding its current domestic infrastructure support to include their businesses in Japan.  This new expansion of international support will span four technology platforms: Network (voice and data), Mainframe, Wintel, and UNIX.

They are seeking a Procurement Analyst who will be part of their Technology Procurement Organization and will ensure that Technology Procurement for Japan leverages all relationships that currently exist and helps to expand those relationships to Japan.  The successful candidate will also will need to surface issues that are unique to Japan Technology Procurement and manage them to resolution.

Location:  Newark, NJ
Years of Experience:  1-2 (entry level position)
Right to hire:  Yes (within 3 months)
Salary Range: all salary negotiations are contingent on the candidate's level of experience

Responsibilities:

1. Manage and support Technology Procurement orders for office in Japan
2. Responsible for the product/pricing research, responding to user inquiries via e-mail and phone, placement of orders and management of orders until delivery help resolve invoice reconciliation issues
3. Help establish vendor relationships with manufacturers, software publishers and resellers and manage those relationships on an on-going basis be instrumental in negotiation with vendors in Japan
4. Responsible for helping to convert the current Technology Procurement system into       Yen/Japanese and keeping it up to date on an on-going basis

Job Requirements:

1. Strong at multitasking, managing details, problem resolution, customer service and excellent communication skills
2. Experience working in both Japan and the U.S. a plus
3. Knowledge of Japanese culture and business practices
4. Bilingual – Fluent with English and Japanese (preferably Level 1 Language proficiency certification) 
5. Travel to Japan

If you are interested in this position and possess the required qualifications, please contact: Yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Use code:JUSNEWS3. Mention where you saw the ad.

Open Position 1: Team Lead, Systems Consulting

The Corporate Technology Management department of a major U.S. company is expanding its current domestic infrastructure support to include their businesses in Japan.  CTM Operations Control Management (OCC) is responsible for managing the CTM IT infrastructure and enforcing the adherence to the CTM Problem and Change Management processes. Position is Team Lead, Systems Consulting.

Location:   Roseland, NJ
Target Start Date:  ASAP
Years of Experience:  At least 5 years
Hours:  8:00PM-4:00AM (to coincide with Japan time)
Right to hire:  Yes (within first 3 months)
Salary Range:  Based on the candidate's level of experience

The candidate will be responsible for all aspects of Change and Problem Investigation Management.
This position specifically relates to the OCC operational responsibilities and Change/Problem management as they relate to the client's business operations in Japan.

 Responsibilities: 

1. Central point to leverage uniform CTM problem and change management processes for the CTM operations in Japan
2. Support daily operational activities associated with Change Management and Problem Management activities in Japan
3. Manage Severity 1 and 2 problems through to successful resolution. Coordination of both Internal and external service providers
4. Support daily operational activities associated with Severity 1 and 2 problem Investigations and Post Mortems
5. Develop effective relationships with internal CTM and external Service Provider Organizations
6. Develop systems requirements for CTM’s operational tool enhancements
7. Coordination of significant CTM change activity with service providers, Business units, External providers and Relationship managers
8. Facilitation of adhoc/weekly change or problem investigation meetings
9. Provide training on the CTM process and supporting tools
10. Providing change approvals and conflict management
11. Strong PC technical skills -- MS Word, Visio, PowerPoint and Microsoft Project

Additional requirements:

1. Candidate must be fluent in English and Japanese, reading, writing and speaking
2. Initially will be required to work US hours for training activities
3. Ability to work with minimal supervision
4. Comfortable with interacting with Senior Management
5. Strong communication, time management, negotiation, problem solving, analytical and decision making skills
6. Proactive in identifying process gaps and following to resolution
7. Able to extrapolate information from discussions with Service Providers to translate technical documents into understandable nontechnical language
8. Ability to handle difficult situations
9. Understanding the technical Service Provider disciplines and the relationships throughout the infrastructure and how Business Partners are affected
10. Knowledge of Crystal Reporting and Remedy a plus

If you are interested in this position and have the required qualifications, please contact: yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Use code: JUSNEWS1. Mention where you saw this ad.

 

Open Position 5: Database Administrator

The Corporate Technology Management of a major U.S. company is expanding its current domestic infrastructure support to include their businesses in Japan.  This new expansion of international support will span our technology platforms: Network (voice and data), Mainframe, Wintel, and UNIX.They are seeking a Database Administrator.

Location:  Newark, NJ
Target Start Date:  ASAP
Years of Experience:  At least 3 years
Right to hire:  Yes (within first 3 months)
Salary Range:  Based on candidate’s experience

The selected candidate will plan for and implement migration of databases for our Japan businesses from an outsourced provider to a Company managed environment, have BAU DBA support responsibilites for databases once they are migrated and plan for and implement new DBMS activities with our Japan businesses.  The candidate should also have strong Oracle/UDB DBA experience, unix and shell scripting -- Sybase/MSSQL a plus.

Additional job requirements include:

1. Must have strong bilingual skills -- Fluent with English and Japanese
      (preferably Level 1 language proficiency certification) 
2. In addition, knowledge of Japanese culture and business practices as plus
3. Prior experience as an Oracle/UDB production DBA (3+ years)
4. Must have supported applications with Oracle database RDBMS software versions 9i and 10g, UDB version 8 and 9 
5. Must be able to perform database related activities such as developing, maintaining, monitoring and optimizing Oracle databases for on line, reporting and batch applications 
6. Must have experience with and an excellent understanding of backup and recovery procedures for an Oracle database is required
7. Must have Oracle DBA experience on Unix OS platforms – Solaris and AIX- and Windows OS 2000 and 2003 platforms
8. Must be willing to participate in Resource, Design, Database Architecture and Implementation reviews for all new Oracle database applications
9.  Must be able to do independent database software research and influence the direction of the database technology to be used by the database applications
10. Knowledge of Oracle Data Warehousing applications and or the Oracle Application suite is also a plus
11. Good analytical interpersonal and communication skills are mandatory 
12. Strong communication and interpersonal skills 
13. Travel to Japan may or may not be required (expenses will be covered)

If you are interested in this position and possess the required qualifications, please contact: Yvonne@Burtonconsulting.biz OR Joe@Vypak.com. Use code:JUSNEWS5. Mention where you saw the job ad.