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Business Strategy & Operations Manager
AppleMinato, Tokyo-to, Japan7+ years
Apply Imagine what you could do here. The people here at Apple don't just create products — they create the kind of wonder that's revolutionized entire industries. It's the diversity of those people and their ideas that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry-leading environmental efforts. Join Apple, and help us leave the world better than we found it.
Apple's Sales organization generates the revenue needed to fuel our ongoing development of products and services. This, in turn, enriches the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Our sales team is, in many ways, the face of Apple to our largest customers.
In this position, you will drive process improvement, change management, and day-to-day business operations in support of Apple's Sales organization in Japan. You will partner closely with Sales Planners, Sales Finance, and key cross-functional teams to streamline operations, manage strategic initiatives such as channel incentive programs, and ensure the business runs effectively and efficiently. You are equally at home shaping long-term strategy and rolling up your sleeves to execute with precision — bringing both a big-picture perspective and an exceptional attention to detail to everything you do. With your strategic mindset, collaborative approach, and passion for building scalable solutions, you will make a meaningful impact on how Apple's Sales organization in Japan operates and grows.
- Identify, design, and implement process improvements that increase operational efficiency and support the long-term effectiveness of Apple's Sales organization in Japan
- Translate strategic objectives into clear operational plans, ensuring initiatives are executed with rigor, consistency, and attention to detail
- Lead change management efforts by developing clear communication plans, engaging stakeholders at all levels, and driving adoption of new processes, tools, and initiatives
- Serve as a trusted operational partner to Sales Planners and Sales Finance, collaborating on key strategic initiatives including channel incentive programs
- Build and maintain project governance frameworks to ensure structured, consistent, and inclusive execution across business operations initiatives
- Coordinate and drive cross-functional business reviews to assess the state of the business, surface opportunities, and align on strategic direction with leadership
- Develop and communicate stakeholder-facing materials that clearly articulate program scope, strategic rationale, progress, decisions, and outcomes
- Define key success metrics and drive analysis and reporting to measure the impact of operational improvements and strategic programs
- Absorb complex and disparate information to build data-driven insights, create a compelling narrative, and communicate possible actions and outcomes to leadership
- Proactively anticipate risks and ambiguities, and drive toward resolution before escalation
- Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
- Background in business operations, program/project management, sales operations, or a similar function
- Proven experience leading process improvement and change management initiatives in a complex, cross-functional environment
- Strong analytical skills with experience working with data to inform decisions and operational strategy
- Proficiency with project management frameworks and tools
- Excellent collaboration and relationship-building skills with the ability to quickly establish trust, credibility, and influence across cross-functional and multi-directional partners
- Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to adapt approach for both technical and non-technical audiences and craft clear, concise stakeholder-facing materials
- Comfort managing ambiguity with the ability to aggregate information from multiple sources, formulate a cohesive strategy, and follow through with meticulous execution
- Demonstrated ability to think strategically and act operationally — balancing big-picture vision with rigorous attention to detail in day-to-day work
- Fluency in English and Japanese
- 8+ years of related experience
- Experience working directly with Sales Planning and/or Sales Finance teams is highly preferred
- Familiarity with channel incentive programs or related sales financial structures is a strong plus
- Experience defining program structure (e.g., scope, milestones, success criteria, reporting/analysis, and communications) is highly preferred
- Proficiency in Excel, Tableau, and/or SQL for data analysis and reporting is a plus
- Proven presentation skills and content development experience in Keynote, Numbers, and Pages
- Forward-thinking approach with the tenacity to anticipate risks prior to escalation and proactively drive toward a solution
- Expert organizational skills and obsessive attention to detail, without losing sight of the strategic objectives
- Industry knowledge and understanding of Apple's go-to-market strategies, consumer channel dynamics, and partner ecosystem in Japan is highly preferred