Japan Influencer Manager / Creator Partnerships Manager — DTC / E-commerce

Japan Influencer Manager / Creator Partnerships Manager — DTC / E-commerce ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for an experienced Japan-based Influencer Manager / Creator Partnerships Manager to join our team and manage influencer and creator partnerships for international DTC brands entering and scaling in Japan. This is not simply an influencer outreach VA role. We are looking for someone who understands the Japanese creator ecosystem, can identify the right creators for a specific brand and campaign objective, confidently communicate with Japanese creators and agencies, negotiate commercial terms, manage campaigns end-to-end, and build long-term creator relationships. You will work closely with our strategy, creative, and performance marketing teams to turn creator partnerships into a scalable customer acquisition channel. The ideal candidate understands how Japanese consumers respond to creator content and has experience working with Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X and other relevant Japanese social platforms. --- WHAT YOU WILL OWN You will effectively become the day-to-day influencer/creator partnerships manager for Japan across multiple DTC brands. Your responsibilities will include: 1. INFLUENCER & CREATOR RESEARCH Build and continuously expand databases of relevant Japanese creators. You will identify creators based on: - Niche/category - Audience demographics - Gender - Age - Geographic concentration - Follower count - Average views - Engagement rate - Content quality - Audience authenticity - Previous brand partnerships - Brand fit - Creator personality - Content style - Conversion potential Creator categories may include: - Fitness - Health & wellness - Beauty - Skincare - Nutrition - Supplements - Fashion - Lifestyle - Food - Parenting - Women's health - Men's health - Gaming - Apps - Technology - Productivity - Finance - Other relevant verticals depending on the client We care much more about quality and commercial relevance than follower count. A creator with 15,000 highly relevant Japanese followers can be substantially more valuable than a creator with 500,000 low-intent followers. --- 2. CREATOR PROSPECTING You will proactively build lists of potential creators across: - Instagram - TikTok - YouTube - X - Threads - Japanese creator platforms - Influencer databases - Creator agencies - Existing creator networks - Competitor campaigns - Hashtag research - Social listening - Manual discovery You should be comfortable finding creators without relying exclusively on influencer databases. For example, you should be able to look at a competitor's Instagram/TikTok presence and identify: Who are the creators promoting this brand? Which creators are repeatedly appearing in this category? Which creators have the right audience but have not yet worked with competitors? Which micro-creators are producing unusually strong content? --- 3. OUTREACH You will manage creator outreach from initial contact through activation. This includes: - Initial outreach - Follow-ups - Campaign explanation - Answering creator questions - Negotiating fees - Negotiating deliverables - Negotiating usage rights - Negotiating paid advertising rights - Negotiating whitelisting / Spark Ads / Meta usage where applicable - Confirming deadlines - Collecting shipping information - Product/sample coordination - Contract coordination - Maintaining communication throughout the campaign You should be comfortable communicating professionally in native-level Japanese. English communication will also be required with our internal team. --- 4. NEGOTIATION You will be expected to negotiate commercial terms with creators. This includes: - Fixed-fee campaigns - Product seeding - Affiliate arrangements - Hybrid fee + affiliate structures - Monthly retainers - Usage rights - Paid media usage - Whitelisting - Exclusivity - Additional deliverables - Raw footage - Content revisions - Licensing periods You should understand the difference between: Organic posting rights vs. Paid advertising usage rights vs. Whitelisting / creator account advertising vs. Perpetual / unlimited usage This is extremely important. We do not want creators agreeing to a campaign and then discovering later that the brand does not have the required rights to use the content in paid advertising. --- 5. CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT Once a creator agrees to participate, you will own the operational process. You will: 1. Confirm creator 2. Confirm commercial terms 3. Confirm deliverables 4. Confirm usage rights 5. Confirm deadlines 6. Send campaign brief 7. Coordinate product delivery 8. Answer creator questions 9. Track production 10. Review submitted content 11. Request revisions where required 12. Collect final assets 13. Organise files 14. Confirm posting requirements 15. Track publication 16. Monitor performance 17. Record results 18. Maintain relationship for future campaigns You should be highly organised and comfortable managing multiple creators simultaneously. --- 6. CREATOR RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT We are looking to build a long-term creator network, not run one-off transactional campaigns. You will maintain relationships with high-performing creators and continuously build a roster of creators who can be activated again. You should be able to identify: Tier A High-performing strategic creators who should receive priority access to future campaigns. Tier B Reliable creators who consistently produce good content. Tier C Emerging creators who have strong potential but limited historical data. Tier D Test creators who should only receive small initial briefs. We want to build a proprietary Japanese creator network over time. --- 7. CONTENT QUALITY CONTROL You will need to review creator submissions against campaign requirements. This may include checking: - Hook - Product integration - Messaging - Brand guidelines - Visual quality - Audio quality - Japanese language quality - CTA - Product claims - Required disclosures - Content structure - Required shots - Required talking points - Duration - Aspect ratio - Captions/subtitles - Branding - Usage rights You should be comfortable giving creators clear, constructive feedback in Japanese. --- 8. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS This is not purely a relationship-management position. We want to understand which creators actually drive business results. You will track metrics such as: - Views - Reach - Engagement - Engagement rate - Saves - Shares - Comments - Click-through rate - Landing-page visits - Promo-code usage - Affiliate revenue - CPA/CAC where available - ROAS where available - Conversion rate - Revenue generated - Content performance in paid advertising The objective is to answer: Which creators should we work with again? Which creators produce the best content? Which creators actually drive conversions? Which creators should receive higher budgets? --- 9. COMPETITOR RESEARCH You will regularly research competitor influencer activity in Japan. For example: - Which creators are competitors using? - How frequently are they posting? - What formats are they using? - What hooks are appearing repeatedly? - Which creators appear to be generating strong engagement? - What offers are competitors promoting? - What products are being seeded? - What type of UGC is being produced? - Which creators appear repeatedly across multiple brands? You should be able to turn this research into actionable recommendations. --- 10. CREATOR DATABASE MANAGEMENT You will maintain a structured creator database. Each creator should ideally have: - Name - Creator handle - Platform - Profile URL - Category - Sub-category - Location - Follower count - Average views - Engagement rate - Audience demographics - Contact information - Email - Agency/contact if applicable - Previous brands - Estimated rate - Negotiated rate - Usage-rights pricing - Previous campaign history - Performance history - Status - Notes - Relationship owner - Last contacted - Next follow-up - Campaign history - Overall creator rating The database must remain clean and continuously updated. --- PLATFORMS You should have strong familiarity with at least: - Instagram - TikTok - YouTube Experience with the following is a major advantage: - X - Threads - LINE - Japanese influencer agencies - Japanese creator platforms - Affiliate platforms - Meta Ads - TikTok Ads --- REQUIRED EXPERIENCE Must-have - Native or near-native Japanese - Strong written Japanese - Strong English communication - Previous influencer / creator marketing experience - Experience working with Japanese creators - Experience conducting creator outreach - Experience negotiating creator fees - Experience managing campaigns end-to-end - Excellent organisational skills - Strong communication skills - Comfortable using spreadsheets / databases - Strong understanding of social media - Ability to work independently Strongly preferred Experience with: - DTC / e-commerce - Shopify brands - Health & wellness - Beauty - Supplements - Fitness - Consumer apps - Performance marketing - Affiliate marketing - UGC - Paid social - Meta Ads - TikTok Ads - Creator whitelisting - Paid usage rights --- WHAT WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR Please do not apply if your experience is primarily: - Generic social media posting - Community management - Personal social media management - Virtual assistance - Basic data entry - Copy/paste influencer outreach - Buying followers - Running giveaway campaigns - Only working with celebrity influencers - Only working with Western creators We are looking for someone who understands commercial creator marketing, not simply social media management. --- IDEAL CANDIDATE The ideal person is: Highly organised + commercially minded + excellent with people + deeply familiar with Japanese social media. You should naturally think: "This creator has 30k followers, but their audience is exactly right and their recent videos are getting 100k+ views." rather than: "This creator has 500k followers, so let's contact them." You should also be comfortable saying: "We shouldn't pay ¥300,000 for this creator. Based on their average views, audience quality and previous campaign performance, I'd negotiate closer to ¥150,000." We want someone who can think commercially, not simply execute instructions. --- EXPECTED WEEKLY RESPONSIBILITIES A typical week may include: Monday - Review active campaigns - Review creator performance - Identify new creators - Build outreach lists - Follow up with existing prospects Tuesday–Wednesday - Creator outreach - Negotiation - Campaign onboarding - Briefing creators - Reviewing submitted content Thursday - Competitor research - Creator discovery - Performance analysis - Database updates Friday - Campaign reporting - Creator performance review - Identify creators for repeat campaigns - Build next week's prospecting list - Internal strategy meeting The exact schedule will vary depending on campaign volume. --- KPIs Performance will be evaluated based on: Creator acquisition - Number of qualified creators identified - Response rate - Positive response rate - Cost per acquired creator - Creator activation rate Campaign execution - On-time delivery - Brief compliance - Content approval rate - Revision rate - Creator satisfaction Commercial performance - Cost per piece of content - Cost per creator - Revenue generated - CAC/CPA - ROAS - Affiliate revenue - Repeat creator performance Network development - Number of qualified creators added - Number of high-performing creators retained - Repeat activation rate - Growth of proprietary creator database --- COMPENSATION We are open to either: Hourly or Monthly retainer depending on experience. Please include your expected: Hourly rate in USD and/or Monthly rate in USD in your application. For exceptional candidates, we are open to increasing compensation based on performance and the number/complexity of campaigns managed. --- WORKING ARRANGEMENT - Remote - Japan-based preferred - Flexible working hours - Must be available for regular communication during Japan business hours - Long-term opportunity for the right person - Potential to move into a larger Japan Influencer/Creator Marketing leadership role --- APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS To be considered, please answer the following questions. 1. Experience Briefly describe your previous influencer/creator marketing experience. Please include: - Companies/brands - Markets - Platforms - Number of creators managed - Approximate campaign budgets - Types of campaigns 2. Japan Creator Experience Tell us about your experience working with Japanese creators. Please provide examples if possible. 3. Creator Acquisition Approximately how many creators have you personally sourced and contacted? What was your approximate response/activation rate? 4. Negotiation Give us an example of a creator fee you successfully negotiated down. What was the original price? What did you ultimately pay? 5. Performance Give us an example of a creator campaign that performed particularly well. Please include any available metrics. 6. Creator Discovery Exercise Find 5 Japanese creators who would be appropriate for a DTC health/wellness brand targeting consumers aged 25–45. For each creator provide: - Name - Platform - Handle - Followers - Average views - Category - Why you selected them - Estimated cost - Whether you would recommend them for paid usage 7. Competitor Exercise Identify 3 Japanese brands currently doing strong influencer/UGC marketing. For each: - Brand - 3 creators they are using - Platform - Content format - Why you think the strategy works 8. Availability How many hours per week can you commit? 9. Compensation What is your expected hourly rate or monthly retainer? --- PLEASE INCLUDE Your application should include: - CV/resume - LinkedIn profile - Relevant campaign examples - Creator/influencer campaigns you have managed - Any portfolio or case studies - Your availability - Your expected rate Applications without specific examples of Japanese influencer/creator marketing experience are unlikely to be considered. --- ABOUT US We are a Japan-focused growth and content agency helping international brands enter and scale in Japan. We work with DTC, e-commerce and consumer brands and provide an end-to-end Japan growth function covering: - Market entry - Creator acquisition - UGC production - Creative strategy - Paid social - Localisation - Performance marketing - Retention - Growth strategy You will work directly with our internal strategy and creative teams and will have significant ownership over the Japanese creator ecosystem. This is intended to be a long-term position, not a one-off project. If you are already deeply connected to the Japanese creator ecosystem and know how to turn those relationships into measurable commercial results, we'd love to hear from you.