Web Application Engineer, Rakuten Travel Experiences - Travel Development Department (TDD)

Job Description: Business Overview Rakuten Group operates a wide range of internet services globally, including e-commerce, travel, fintech, and mobile. Rakuten Travel leads the travel domain within the group, pursuing its purpose of “Making People Happy with Travel” and continuously evolving as one of Japan’s leading online travel services. Department Overview Rakuten Travel is a leading online travel service in Japan, dedicated to “Making People Happy with Travel”. Rakuten Travel: https://travel.rakuten.com/ Since our founding in 1996, we have consistently led the industry, challenging the norms and fostering innovation. With growing aspirations to expand beyond borders as a Global Innovation Company, we are not confined to Japan but continue to strive daily to become the world's premier travel reservation service. As part of the Commerce & Marketing Company, the Travel Development Department is currently embarking on the following ambitious projects: 1. Globalization of Rakuten Travel to compete in global markets 2. Continuous improvement and strengthening Rakuten Travel’s presence in Japan to increase customer satisfaction We are seeking like-minded individuals who resonate with our purpose. Join us at Rakuten Travel, propose new forms of travel to people around the world, and strive to be pioneers shaping the future of travel. Your passion and creativity will breathe new life into the travel industry, filled with infinite possibilities. We eagerly await your application and potentially invite you to take on challenges in a diverse environment in collaboration with new peers. In this position, you will be responsible for the development and operation of services provided by "Rakuten Travel Experiences" https://experiences.travel.rakuten.co.jp/. Expected to lead the travel industry, this role involves utilizing state-of-the-art technology to deliver services that address contemporary and varied travel demands. Rakuten Travel is among the top online travel sites in Japan, requiring development skills to support its large-scale transaction processing. Particularly during the quarterly Rakuten Super Sale, you will be expected to handle over 150 reservations per second and manage search traffic exceeding 800 queries. The volume of this traffic is anticipated to increase in the future, making the development and operation of systems capable of handling high loads a critical responsibility. Working at Rakuten Travel offers abundant opportunities for technical challenges and growth, leading to potential career advancement in an attractive position. Position: Why We Hire As Rakuten Travel Experiences continues to grow, we need to keep delivering new features while ensuring stable operations, and continuously improving performance, automation, and quality. Looking ahead to cross-product development across the travel domain (shared features and platforms), we are hiring engineers who can drive design, implementation, and operations across both frontend and backend. Attractiveness - Work on a high-traffic, large-scale service and tackle system design, performance tuning, and operational excellence - Own the full development lifecycle end-to-end (design, implementation, testing, deployment, and operations) across frontend and backend - Collaborate with a global team with opportunities for English communication and a culture that welcomes improvements - Opportunity to contribute to cross-product/shared platform development across the travel domain Position Details You will be responsible for the development and operation of both the frontend and backend of Rakuten Travel's travel experience services. Specifically, you will work on the design, implementation, testing, and deployment of systems in collaboration with team members, product managers, and QA engineers. Additionally, you will be responsible for improving frontend functionality and performance, handling monitoring and alerts, and responding to user inquiries. In this role, you are expected to function as a role model for the next generation of engineers, envision the future of the system, and lead the organization's growth. You will have the opportunity to enhance your technical skills and achieve results through collaboration with the team. This environment allows you to advance your career and tackle various challenges by contributing to the organization's growth. Work Environment Team Structure - Within the travel engineering organization, cross-functional roles such as product, engineering, QA, and reliability work together to build and operate services - There are opportunities for collaboration with global teams in English - Age group: Early 30s Employee Background - The organization includes diverse roles such as Applications Engineers, Product Managers, UI/UX Engineers, and Web Applications QA - Members bring experience in web service development/operations, quality assurance, and product planning Development Tools - Languages/Frameworks: JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, Vue.js, Express.js, PostgreSQL, Redis - Middleware: Nginx - Infrastructure: Google Cloud Platform - Monitoring: New Relic (APM), Pager Duty - Tools: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Confluence, JIRA, Bitbucket, etc. Mandatory Qualifications: Technical Skills/Experiences - 5+ years of experience in web application development (e.g., JavaScript/TypeScript, Vue.js, Express.js) - Experience with build/dependency tools such as Webpack and npm - Experience designing and implementing tests using tools such as Jest - Experience making technical documentation (e.g. Architecture specification, Development specification) - Experience using RESTful APIs - Basic knowledge of web security - Solid understanding of SPA including SSR, SASS/SCSS, and responsive design - Experience improving web performance on both client and server sides - Strong UX and design sensibilities with attention to detail - Experience designing and maintaining infrastructure using public cloud service (e.g. GCP, AWS) - Business-level English proficiency (reading, writing, and speaking) Soft Skills/Experiences - Proactively involves others to solve problems and improve situations - Curious mindset and continuous learning in a fast-moving environment - Effective communication with diverse stakeholders - Willing to tackle new challenges and drive improvements - Strong team player who promotes collaboration inside and outside the team - Execute tasks while considering the potential impact and scope of influence on other areas, instead of simply implementing what's written in the specifications - Identify what the problem is and work together to devise an approach to address it Desired Qualifications: - Experience in Java-based web application development (e.g., Spring Framework) - Experience contributing to cross-product/shared platform development in the travel domain - Experience building and operating services on cloud environments such as GCP - Experience improving operations using observability tools (e.g., New Relic) - Experience with performance tuning, incident response, and operational automation (e.g., CI/CD) - Experience communicating in English in a technical context Other Information: Additional information on Location Rakuten Crimson House (Head office) Additional information on English Qualification TOEIC Score exceeding 800 (or similar level of English ability) or a University Degree earned in an English-speaking country. Proof of qualifications will be required by the time of the job offer. If no evidence is available to prove the qualifications denoted above, taking an IP test, organized by Rakuten, during selection process is required. Additional information of Rakuten Group, Inc. - Benefits:https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/benefit/ - Recruitment Information:https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/information/ - Rakuten Culture:https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/culture/ #engineer #frontendengineer #webdeveloper #commerce #RakutenTravel #RakutenTravelExperiences #Java #JavaScript Languages: English (Overall - 3 - Advanced) 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