Description

Company Description

• About Keywords Studios

Keywords Studios is a global provider of creative and technical services to the video games industry, with over 13,000 professionals across 70+ studios in 25+ countries. We support clients across the entire game lifecycle through three core Service Lines:

• Create - Game development, art production, and audio
• Globalize - Localization, localization QA, functional testing
• Engage - Marketing, LiveOps, community, and player support

In Japan, Keywords Studios delivers its full range of services across Create, Globalize, and Engage, supporting leading publishers and developers through both local and international production teams. Our presence includes the Tokyo-based development studio Wizcorp, alongside established localization, QA, player support, and marketing capabilities serving some of the most influential companies in the Japanese games and entertainment industry.

Keywords Studios is increasingly trusted by Japanese AAA partners to support large-scale productions that span multiple regions-combining Japanese creative leadership with global delivery capacity across Asia-Pacific and beyond. These engagements require not only strong production execution, but deep cultural understanding and operational leadership to align Japanese expectations with international development teams.

As one of the world's most culturally influential and production-intensive markets, Japan represents a strategic growth area for Keywords Studios. This role supports delivery excellence, helps strengthen client partnerships, and contributes to shaping how Keywords Studios supports Japanese AAA projects globally.

Job Description

• Position Overview

We are seeking a Bilingual Project Manager based in Japan to act as the primary bridge between our global production teams and our premier Japanese clients. This role requires a rare blend of meticulous project management, hands-on game production knowledge, and linguistic mastery.

As you will be coordinating resources across multiple global locations, your attention to detail must be absolute. You will be the "boots on the ground" representative, ensuring that our partners in Japan receive world-class service while our international development teams receive flawless, actionable instructions.

• Key Responsibilities

Meticulous Global Coordination

• Resource Alignment: Act as the central heartbeat for projects involving distributed resources across different time zones, ensuring all locations are aligned with the client's vision.
• On-Site Presence: Represent the company in person at client offices (primarily in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto) for high-stakes milestone reviews and relationship-building sessions.
• Cross-Border Synchronization: Manage the technical and logistical dependencies between global offices, ensuring that cultural gaps or time-zone shifts do not impact the development schedule.

Client Management & Facilitation

• Manage Japanese client relationships with a deep understanding of local business etiquette (Omotenashi and Keigo).
• Proactively identify and resolve potential friction points between international production workflows and Japanese client expectations.

Documentation & Knowledge Management (The "Gijiroku" Standard)

• Bilingual Record Keeping: Responsible for the end-to-end creation of all meeting minutes, project briefs, and status reports in both English and Japanese.
• Real-Time Availability: Ensure all translated documentation is disseminated to global stakeholders in a timely manner (typically within 24 hours) to maintain production momentum across all locations.
• Information Architecture: Maintain a meticulous, bilingual Confluence or Jira workspace where technical specs and client feedback are archived and easily searchable.
• Technical Precision: Ensure game dev terminology (e.g., draw calls, shaders, rigging) is translated with 100% accuracy to prevent costly production re-work.

Qualifications

• Location: Must be based in Japan with the ability to travel regularly to key client hubs.
• Experience: 5+ years of combined experience in Game Production and Client-Facing roles. You must understand the technical nuances of how a game is built to effectively communicate project status.
• Language: Native or N1-level Japanese fluency; professional-level English fluency.
• Meticulous Mindset: A proven track record of managing complex projects where "the devil is in the details." You believe that precision equals respect.
• Technical Writing: Exceptional ability to synthesize complex technical discussions into concise, professional summaries in both languages.
• Industry Tools: Expert-level proficiency in Jira and Confluence.

• Skills & Competencies

• Cross-Cultural Fluency - Comfortable bridging Japanese and Western production environments.
• Client-Focused - Builds trust through reliability, clarity, and consistency.
• Diplomatic Communicator - Able to handle difficult conversations constructively.
• Organized & Proactive - Strong planning and prioritization skills.

Additional Information

• Competitive Market Rate Remuneration
• Genuine flexible working - One or two days in studio.
• Opportunity to work with our regional APAC partners, opening up to global opportunities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to fostering a work environment that is inclusive, supports flexibility, and welcomes diversity.

Role Information: EN

Studio: Keywords Studios

Location: Asia Pacific, Japan, Tokyo

Area of Work: Game Development

Service: Create

Employment Type: Full Time, Permanent

Working Pattern: Hybrid

PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY

Keywords Studios is strongly committed to protecting your personal information. By sending your CV/Resume, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and consent to your data being managed and retained in accordance with our data privacy and retention policy https://www.keywordsstudios.com/en/applicant-privacy-notice/.