Senior Bilingual Software Engineer (English/Japanese) – West Coast (U.S.)
DevHub · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $175,000 / year
- United States
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Job highlights
- Bridge US and Japan engineering teams.
- Align platform and field priorities.
- Maximize platform leverage.
- Drive global collaboration.
- Influence product strategy.
About the role
Senior Bilingual Software Engineer (English/Japanese)
Overview
We are seeking a highly capable Senior Bilingual Software Engineer to serve as the connective layer between our Forward-Deployed U.S. teams and our Platform Core Engineering team in Japan. This role reports directly to the CTO, reflecting its strategic importance in aligning product direction, platform evolution, and field execution. This role is not about language translation. In an AI-enabled environment, its core responsibility is context alignment and leverage maximization—ensuring both teams operate with a shared understanding of priorities, constraints, urgency, and intent. You will play a critical role in making sure:
- The Platform Core team focuses on the highest-impact problems, grounded in real-world usage
- The Forward-Deployed teams extract maximum value from the platform, leveraging it effectively and correctly
This is a high-impact role at the center of a two-speed organization: fast-moving field execution and a scalable, reusable platform.
Key Responsibilities
- Act as the primary interface between Forward-Deployed U.S. teams and the Platform Core team in Japan, driving deep, bidirectional context alignment
- Continuously synthesize and communicate what is happening on the ground—including priorities, urgency, constraints, and team sentiment (“temperature”)
- Translate not just requirements, but intent, trade-offs, and decision rationale across both sides
- Influence platform roadmap and product strategy by ensuring decisions are grounded in real-world usage, high-impact opportunities, and evolving field needs
- Ensure the Platform Core team is working on the highest-value problems, with clear prioritization informed by field context
- Ensure Forward-Deployed teams fully leverage the platform, including understanding its capabilities, constraints, and intended design patterns
- Drive cross-regional program execution, including: Defining and maintaining clear priorities, milestones, and success criteria across teams, Managing dependencies, risks, and trade-offs between Forward-Deployed and Platform Core workstreams, Establishing and enforcing execution cadence (planning, check-ins, reviews) across time zones, Ensuring accountability and follow-through on key initiatives
- Facilitate technical discussions, design reviews, and prioritization decisions across regions
- Improve internal systems for global collaboration, including documentation, communication cadence, and decision-making frameworks
Qualifications
- Near-native proficiency in both English and Japanese, capable of conveying nuanced context such as priorities, urgency, assumptions, and technical trade-offs.
- 7+ years of experience in software engineering, with strong exposure to system design and real-world implementation
- 4+ years of prior experience operating as a Software Engineer within a U.S.-based organization, where English was the primary language for technical discussions, design reviews, and deliverables, both orally and in writing.
- Strong understanding of modern software architecture (APIs, backend systems, data models)
- Proven ability to operate across product, engineering, and implementation contexts
- Experience working with distributed or cross-border teams
- Strong communication skills with the ability to convey nuanced context, not just information
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in platform engineering or building extensible systems
- Familiarity with ERP, supply chain systems, or complex business applications
- Experience with SaaS integrations or composable/headless architectures
- Background in solution architecture or technical program management
- Experience in a startup or high-growth environment
- Experience or familiarity with modern systems programming languages (e.g., Go, Rust) and/or TypeScript, aligning with the Platform Core team's current or evolving technology stack.
What Success Looks Like
- The Platform Core team consistently prioritizes high-impact work aligned with real field needs
- Forward-Deployed teams maximize leverage from the platform, minimizing unnecessary custom work
- Reduced rework and friction caused by misalignment in priorities, assumptions, or timing
- Clear and shared understanding of technical trade-offs and decision rationale across both teams
- Faster feedback loops between field execution and platform evolution
- High trust and strong collaboration across U.S. and Japan teams
Location & Working Conditions
- Based on the U.S. West Coast (required)
- Hybrid or remote-friendly
- Open to working regular hours of 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM PT to maintain meaningful daily overlap with the Japan-based Platform Core team (required)
- Willingness to travel (~15%), primarily to strengthen cross-regional collaboration and alignment
Why This Role Matters
As organizations scale globally, the challenge is not access to information—it is alignment on context, priorities, and intent. This role ensures that:
- The platform evolves in the right direction, focusing on what truly matters
- The field operates with maximum leverage, building on the platform instead of around it
By synchronizing these two layers, you enable a system where speed and scalability reinforce each other, rather than compete.
Key skills/competency
- Software Engineering
- System Design
- Cross-functional Communication
- Bilingual Proficiency (English/Japanese)
- Platform Engineering
- Technical Program Management
- Startup Environment
- SaaS Integrations
- API Design
- Distributed Systems
Skills & topics
- Software Engineer
- Bilingual
- Japanese
- English
- System Design
- Platform Engineering
- Cross-functional
- Distributed Teams
- API
- Backend Development
- Go
- Rust
- TypeScript
- Startup
- High-Growth
How to get hired
- Customize your resume: Highlight your bilingual skills and cross-cultural communication experience. Quantify achievements in system design and platform engineering.
- Tailor your application: Clearly articulate your understanding of the role's importance in bridging U.S. and Japan teams, emphasizing context alignment over mere translation.
- Prepare for interviews: Be ready to discuss your experience with distributed teams and how you've managed technical trade-offs and decision rationale across regions.
- Showcase your technical depth: Demonstrate your knowledge of modern software architecture, APIs, backend systems, and data models, as well as any experience with specific technologies like Go, Rust, or TypeScript.
- Emphasize collaboration: Provide examples of how you've fostered strong working relationships and driven program execution across different time zones and cultures.
Technical preparation
Master system design principles.,Review modern software architecture.,Practice articulating trade-offs.,Study platform engineering concepts.
Behavioral questions
Describe bridging communication gaps.,How do you align team priorities?,Share experience managing cross-border teams.,Explain how you maximize platform leverage.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary responsibility of the Senior Bilingual Software Engineer at DevHub?
- The primary responsibility is to act as the connective layer between U.S. Forward-Deployed teams and the Platform Core Engineering team in Japan, focusing on context alignment and maximizing leverage rather than direct language translation. This ensures both teams share a common understanding of priorities, constraints, and intent.
- Is fluency in both English and Japanese a strict requirement for this role at DevHub?
- Yes, near-native proficiency in both English and Japanese is a requirement. This is crucial for conveying nuanced context such as priorities, urgency, assumptions, and technical trade-offs effectively across the U.S. and Japan teams.
- What kind of software engineering experience is DevHub looking for in this position?
- DevHub is seeking at least 7 years of software engineering experience, with a strong emphasis on system design and real-world implementation. Additionally, 4+ years of experience as a Software Engineer within a U.S.-based organization, using English for technical discussions and deliverables, is required.
- How does DevHub ensure alignment between its U.S. and Japan engineering teams?
- DevHub uses a Senior Bilingual Software Engineer to act as the primary interface, continuously synthesizing and communicating ground-level context, translating intent and trade-offs, and influencing the platform roadmap. This role drives cross-regional program execution and improves collaboration systems.
- What are the working conditions for this Senior Bilingual Software Engineer role at DevHub?
- The role is based on the U.S. West Coast and is hybrid or remote-friendly. Candidates must be open to working hours that overlap with the Japan team (10:00 AM - 7:00 PM PT) and be willing to travel approximately 15%.
- What are the preferred qualifications for this role at DevHub?
- Preferred qualifications include experience in platform engineering, building extensible systems, familiarity with ERP or supply chain systems, SaaS integrations, solution architecture, or technical program management. Experience in a startup environment and with modern languages like Go, Rust, or TypeScript is also a plus.
- How will success be measured for the Senior Bilingual Software Engineer at DevHub?
- Success will be measured by the Platform Core team consistently prioritizing high-impact work aligned with field needs, Forward-Deployed teams maximizing platform leverage, reduced rework due to misalignment, clear understanding of technical trade-offs, faster feedback loops, and high trust across teams.
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