AI Solution Engineer, Point Platform Group - Incentive Platform Department (INPD)

Job Description: Business Overview Rakuten is one of the leading e-commerce companies in the world. Our mission is to empower people and society through the internet while aiming at becoming the Global Innovation Company. Are you interested in building the next generation of Internet services that will be used by millions of users across the globe every day? Rakuten is one of the leading e-commerce companies in the world. Our mission is to empower people and society through the Internet while aiming at becoming the No.1 Innovative Company in the world. 　 Department Overview By joining our TECH community, the IT powerhouse of the Rakuten Group, you will be part of a diverse global team and play a central role in our technology and innovation. Aligning with TECH’s innovative nature, our Incentive Platform Department (INPD) is thinking big: building scalable platforms that powers the Rakuten Ecosystem worldwide. And we in Point Platform Group, under Loyalty Platform Section, are responsible for developing and operating Rakuten Point Platform, the most popular loyalty program in Japan. Through Rakuten Point, millions of users are connected everyday with popular Rakuten services such as EC, Bank, Card, as well as to thousands of convenient stores all over Japan. However, our mission doesn’t stop there, Rakuten point now is expanding in all over the world from Europe to the Americas to APAC region, and our ongoing mission is to connect it all under single global platform. By the time you finish reading this, hundreds of thousands of points transactions have been processed through our platform! Interested in hearing more? Come talk with us. Position: Why We Hire While our core business revolves around high-volume, highly reliable point management, we recognize the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize our internal operations, enhance efficiency, and deliver innovative solutions to our internal stakeholders. We are seeking a talented and pragmatic AI Solutions Engineer to join our innovative team. In this pivotal role, you will champion the adoption and application of AI technologies to significantly improve our team's productivity, streamline workflows, and develop AI-driven solutions that directly address the needs of our internal business and engineering partners. Your contributions will enhance the operational excellence of the Rakuten Point Platform and empower our internal clients. This is an exciting opportunity to directly impact a global platform processing massive transaction volumes, by bringing the advantages of AI to bear on real-world engineering and business challenges, both within our team and across the broader Rakuten ecosystem. 　 Position Details - Partner with product managers and cross-functional teams to identify critical business and operational challenges, translating them into practical AI/ML solution requirements - Design, develop, and implement AI-driven solutions that enhance team productivity and streamline operations, leveraging Generative AI, multimodal AI, and cloud-native services (Azure AI, AWS Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI) - Build and integrate advanced AI applications including RAG systems, AI agents, multimodal AI solutions, and traditional ML models (anomaly detection, predictive analytics) to deliver end-to-end intelligent solutions - Manage the end-to-end AI/ML solution lifecycle, encompassing data preparation, model development, training, evaluation, deployment, and ongoing optimization, ensuring scalability, cost-effectiveness, and maintainability - Stay current with rapidly evolving AI landscape, evaluate cutting-edge technologies (latest LLMs, AI agents, multimodal models), and prototype innovative applications using state-of-the-art AI capabilities 　 Work Environment Our teams are strategically located in two key cities: Tokyo and Dalian, China. Each location hosts a diverse group of professionals, including Product Managers, Technical Delivery Managers, Developers, Quality Assurance Engineers, and Site Reliability Engineers. The Tokyo and Dalian teams are of comparable size, each comprising approximately 30 to 50 members. Our team is composed of individuals with a wide range of ages and experience levels, from recent graduates to seasoned senior members, with an average age of around 35. Our Product and Technical Delivery Management team primarily consists of mid-career professionals who bring valuable technical experience from their previous roles. Our team is composed of individuals with a wide range of ages and experience levels, from recent graduates to seasoned senior members, with an average age of around 35. Currently, our development team primarily consists of backend application engineers, and we do not have dedicated AI specialists. Therefore, we are seeking an individual who can leverage their expert AI knowledge to lead improvement projects and mentor our junior members. Our core platform leverages the following technologies. While these form the foundation of our existing services, we encourage the exploration and adoption of diverse technologies, especially in the AI domain, to best suit project needs. Tech Stack - Programming languages: Kotlin, Java - Platform: Google Cloud, internal private cloud - Databases: Cassandra, TiDB, Redis, MySQL - Application Framework: Vertx, Quarkus - Batch and Streaming: Kafka, Spark - Monitoring: ELK - Others: GitHub Actions, Continuous Integrations (CI/CD), Kubernetes 　 Mandatory Qualifications: Education - Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, or a closely related quantitative field Experience - 5+ years of professional software development experience with a strong foundation in building scalable, production-ready applications - At least 2+ years of dedicated experience in AI/ML development, with proven track record of developing and deploying production-ready AI solutions emphasizing Generative AI (LLMs, RAG systems, AI agents, multimodal AI) Technical Skills - Strong software engineering fundamentals with experience in system design, API development, and cloud-based architectures - Solid grasp of traditional machine learning algorithms and techniques for data analysis, prediction, and classification - Proficiency in Python and AI/ML frameworks (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers, LangChain, OpenAI API, scikit-learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow). Familiarity with emerging AI agent frameworks is a plus - Good understanding of Generative AI concepts including LLM architectures, prompt engineering, and RAG systems. Experience with AI agents, function calling, or multimodal AI is desirable but not required Soft Skills - Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated ability to translate complex business/operational challenges into tangible AI/ML solutions - Strong communication and collaboration skills, with experience partnering effectively with product managers, engineering leads, and diverse cross-functional teams Language Skills - Business-level fluency in English is required Desired Qualifications: - MS or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related technical discipline with a focus on AI/ML - Experience with AI agents, function calling, or multimodal AI - Experience with AI development tools and platforms (OpenAI API, Hugging Face Hub, MLflow) or willingness to learn quickly - Understanding of AI safety and responsible AI practices - Familiarity with vector databases and semantic search technologies (practical experience or strong conceptual understanding) - Basic knowledge of LLM fine-tuning or model optimization techniques (LoRA, PEFT) - training can be provided - Experience with at least one major cloud provider's AI services (Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI) or strong cloud computing background - Interest in AI agent frameworks and orchestration tools - willingness to learn and experiment with emerging technologies - Familiarity with high-volume transaction processing systems, loyalty programs, e-commerce, or financial services #engineer #applicationsengineer #technologyplatformdiv In Japanese, Rakuten stands for ‘optimism.’ It means we believe in the future. It’s an understanding that, with the right mind-set, we can make the future better by what we do today. So we challenge ourselves to evolve, innovate and experiment, to create a better, brighter future for everyone. Today, our 70+ businesses span e-commerce, digital content, communications and fintech, bringing the joy of discovery to almost 1.3 billion members across the world. If you have any trouble logging in, please contact us here Rakuten Group, Inc.: rakuten-recruiting-info@mail.rakuten.com Please read the Application Requirements(EN) / 募集要項(JP) before applying. Our Diversity & Inclusion Policy and Application Documents Rakuten’s corporate mission is to “contribute to society by creating value through innovation and entrepreneurship.” We foster a culture that provides equal opportunities to those who share this founding philosophy and take on the challenge to transform society, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or any other status. Diversity is one of Rakuten's core strategies and a driving force for innovation. Because of this, you are not required to submit any of the following information in order to apply for our job positions. - Gender - Age - Photo - Nationality - Information not related to business, such as ideological beliefs, family structure, etc. * For legal compliance, we may ask you about your work eligibility. See the details