Position Overview

Technical Product Manager - Coupon Backends

This strategic role shapes the architectural strategy for our coupon service to deliver a consistent, high-quality user experience across all platforms. It requires deep technical expertise in building scalable and resilient backend systems, along with a strong understanding of global business needs and the specific requirements of the Japanese market.

Key Responsibilities:

Proactively identify and address critical challenges, including:

Decoupling coupon logic from core transaction flows = ongoing migration project
Standardizing diverse coupon requirements across platforms and regions including financial reporting
Enabling seamless global expansion, with specific consideration for Japan
Reducing operational overhead
Minimizing configuration errors impacting customer experience.

Challenge and improve client architecture across web, mobile, and region-specific apps (including Japan) to ensure optimal coupon backend integration
Actively listen to and collaborate with Japanese stakeholders (marketing and product teams) to understand their unique needs and translate them into effective technical solutions
Work closely with engineering, product management, finance, and global stakeholders to translate business vision into a well-defined technical roadmap and oversee its execution

The Technical Product Manager will lead efforts to enhance the reliability, efficiency, and flexibility of Mercari's coupon systems while ensuring a consistent user experience across all platforms. This includes designing solutions to prevent configuration errors, improving internal tools, and optimizing coupon integration across client architectures. The role focuses on supporting business growth globally, minimizing risks, and providing a foundation for innovation, with special attention to the needs of Japanese users.

Work Responsibilities

Architectural Vision and Strategy:

Develop and manage the architectural vision and strategy for coupon backend systems, aligning with global objectives and addressing region-specific needs, including Japan
Enhance integration with the coupon backend by optimizing client architecture for web, mobile, and region-specific applications.

System Design and Development:

Define clear boundaries between transaction and coupon logic to prevent coupon issues from affecting core purchasing flows across platforms
Create a standardized framework and data model to handle diverse and evolving coupon requirements across regions and applications
Design solutions to support multi-region and multi-language coupon features, focusing on the specific needs of the Japanese market
Develop intuitive, error-preventing tools and processes for coupon constraints and configurations to minimize incidents
Implement strategies to reduce maintenance effort and operational costs for the coupon service across all platforms.

Collaboration and Communication:

Work with finance and accounting teams to streamline data flows and reporting for accurate global financial reconciliation of coupon usage
Partner with backend and client engineering teams to turn architectural designs into actionable development plans with technical guidance
Collaborate with global product managers and Japanese stakeholders to gather requirements and translate them into technical specifications
Effectively communicate the architectural vision, progress, and challenges to both technical and non-technical stakeholders globally and in Japan
Lead technical discussions and decision-making on coupon architecture and client application integrations.

Risk Management and Continuous Improvement:

Proactively identify potential technical risks and challenges related to the coupon platform and its integration with various client architectures, developing mitigation strategies
Stay abreast of industry best practices and emerging technologies in backend architecture, distributed systems, client-server interactions, and related domains
Contribute to the definition and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the health, performance, and reliability of the coupon backend systems and their impact on client applications

Job Description

What You Will Do

As a Technical Product Manager for Coupon Backends at Mercari, your primary focus will be on the strategic direction and technical execution of our coupon backend systems, crucial for our global expansion, especially within the Japanese market. You will define and champion the long-term architectural roadmap, ensuring robustness, scalability, and seamless integration across all user-facing applications (web, mobile, and region-specific).

Your responsibilities include:

Define and drive the architectural vision for Mercari's coupon backend, ensuring a seamless and high-quality user experience across platforms
Enhance the integration of the coupon backend with client systems, focusing on performance, reliability, and maintainability
Decouple coupon logic from transaction systems to improve system resilience
Develop standardized models and frameworks to support diverse and future coupon needs across applications and regions
Work with backend and client teams to implement the target architecture, ensuring technical excellence and adherence to best practices
Collaborate with global product managers and Japanese stakeholders (marketing, product, etc.) to address market-specific needs and deliver effective technical solutions
Optimize accounting integrations and ensure accurate global coupon usage reporting
Design solutions for seamless multi-region and multi-language coupon offerings, emphasizing Japan's technical and user needs
Identify strategies to reduce maintenance costs and improve operational efficiency for the coupon service
Create user-friendly and error-minimizing tools for global and Japan-specific coupon configurations
Anticipate and address technical risks and scalability challenges in backend and client integrations
Communicate and align the architectural vision with global and Japanese engineering and product teams

You May Be a Good Fit If You

Strong expertise in backend systems, distributed architectures, API design, and client-server interactions is essential
Deep understanding of scalability, reliability, and maintainability principles, with experience in building applications for diverse platforms and regions
Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex global and regional business needs into practical technical solutions
Experience in designing and implementing solutions for complex business logic across backend and frontend systems
Proven ability to collaborate effectively with diverse engineering teams (backend, web, mobile) and product managers, with strong interpersonal skills to build relationships with Japanese stakeholders
Strong communication and presentation skills to explain technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences globally and in Japan
Proactive and strategic mindset, with the ability to anticipate future needs and plan for global and region-specific requirements
Passion for building scalable systems that support rapid global growth while meeting local market needs, such as in Japan
Experience with cloud technologies and microservices architectures is a plus
Strong understanding of data integrity and security in financial transactions across regulatory landscapes
Cultural sensitivity and ability to work effectively with Japanese stakeholders

Bold Challenges

Design a robust coupon backend to support Mercari's global marketplace, managing diverse promotions across regions and client applications
Lead efforts to separate coupon logic from core transactions, improving reliability and stability for customers worldwide
Develop a unified coupon framework to streamline global applications and meet current and future promotional needs
Improve integration between coupon systems and accounting processes to ensure accurate financial reporting at scale
Architect a coupon system to support multiple regions and languages, addressing Japan-specific requirements and technical needs
Reduce operational burden and maintenance costs for the coupon infrastructure across platforms and regions
Build intuitive, error-reducing tools for coupon configuration, catering to global teams and Japanese administrators
Enhance web and mobile application architecture to ensure smooth coupon backend integration and resolve platform-specific issues
Gather and incorporate Japanese stakeholder requirements into the global coupon backend and client integrations

Requirements

Required Experience

5+ years of experience in product management, software architecture, or engineering leadership for backend systems and client application integration (web, mobile)
Expertise in designing and implementing scalable, reliable backend architectures, preferably in a microservices environment, with a deep understanding of client-server interactions
Strong knowledge of API design principles and best practices for internal and external use
Experience with relational and NoSQL databases
Familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure
Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, with experience working in diverse global teams
Ability to translate global and region-specific business needs into clear technical specifications and architecture designs, considering client application differences
Experience in Agile development frameworks
Proven ability to work with stakeholders from diverse cultural backgrounds, especially with Japanese stakeholders

[Fluency or business-level proficiency in Japanese]

Preferred Experience

Extensive experience with e-commerce platforms and promotional systems in global markets
Strong understanding of accounting principles and financial reporting for promotions and discounts internationally
Proven experience in internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) for system design across backend and frontend
Familiarity with monitoring and alerting tools for distributed systems and client application performance
Experience with event-driven architectural patterns
Solid background in software development, with hands-on experience in backend and frontend technologies
Skilled in using A/B testing and data-driven approaches in global products
Significant experience in multi-region or global product environments, including working within the Japanese market

Benefits

Working Conditions

Employment Status

Full-time

Office

Bangalore

Hybrid workstyle

We believe in high performance and professionalism. We work from office for 2 days/week and work from home 3 days/week
To build a strong & highly-engaged organization in India, we highly encourage everyone to work from our Bangalore office, especially during the initial office setup phase
We will continue to review and update the policy to address future organizational needs

Work Hours

Full flextime (no core time)

Flexible to choose working hours other than team common meetings

Technical Product Manager (Bilingual - Japanese/English)