Team Lead - Continuous Improvement

Woven by Toyota is building mobility for a safer, happier and more sustainable world. A subsidiary of Toyota, Woven by Toyota develops and invests in new technologies, software, and business models that transform how we live, work and move. With a focus on software-defined vehicles, automated driving, data-driven intelligence, security, mobility services, embedded platforms, AI, and more, we build on Toyota's legacy of trust and safety to deliver mobility solutions for all.

For nearly a century, Toyota has been delivering products and services that improve lives. Its earliest offerings, which automated the simple manual task of weaving, have evolved into the safe, reliable, connected automobiles we enjoy and depend on today. Woven by Toyota is an integral part of Toyota’s vision for the next 100 years—a world where mobility is easier, safer and more enjoyable for more people.

Our unique global culture weaves modern Silicon Valley innovation and time-tested Japanese quality craftsmanship and operational excellence. These complementary strengths enable us to develop and deliver cutting-edge technology at scale—optimizing for safety, advancing clean energy and elevating well-being.  We envision a human-centered future where world-class technology solutions expand global access to mobility, amplify the capabilities of drivers, and empower humanity to thrive.

Woven by Toyota a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota headquartered in Tokyo, is on a mission to design a happier planet through secure, connected mobility solutions. Woven by Toyota’s vision is “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live”. Under this shared goal,we are transforming how people live, work, and play through new innovations and investment in autonomous vehicles, smart cities, robotics, and more.

Arene’s goal is to open vehicle programming to everyone by simplifying vehicle software development and increasing deployment frequency without compromising safety and security. This will create a whole new market of vehicle application developers who, through software, integrate a vehicle into our daily lives in novel ways. Arene aims to significantly improve how vehicles are designed and developed, and we’re working closely with Toyota to realize this goal in its next-generation vehicles.

We are looking for a Team Lead who is passionate about applying Toyota values to cutting-edge software development and driving the transformation towards the “Software First” vision in vehicle development.

We value team-oriented people, who thrive in challenging and complex environments and who are passionate about transforming the way automotive software is created.

We offer a stimulating and cooperative team environment, where writing quality software that doesn’t compromise safety is our main priority. We use modern development processes and tools, use and improve existing standards, in an industry that’s keen to change. Our communication language is English, but we are primarily located in the exciting international metropolis of Tokyo. Our values harmonize the best of “Silicon Valley Innovation” and Toyota Craftsmanship. Relocation support is available.

We learn from each other, as well as support and encourage ongoing training such as:

・Automotive Development

・Software Safety and Security

・Modern Software Quality Management Practices

We put a strong emphasis on ethics and team values, which include:

・Be Reasonable

・Work with Integrity

・Be Empathic and Open to others

We believe in:

・Creative Ownership

・Growing together through teamwork

・Courage to make history

Ask us what these values mean to us.

・Lead a team of specialists driving continuous improvement activities across the Arene organization;

・Act as leadership figure by engaging people and caring for them, ensuring people have what they need to be successful;

・Define team strategy, derive key results based on Arene objectives and lead their execution;

・Be a constant agent of change to strive for quality excellence in the way we work and what we collectively produce;

・Work closely with the Arene management and teams to identify improvement needs;

・Create initiatives to constantly suggest novel ideas which are aimed at producing better quality software products and services or eliminating waste in our processes;

・Establish an effective system for collecting improvement ideas, visualizing their progress and reporting their impact;

・Enable the team do drive continuous improvement initiatives towards tangible outcomes in a reasonable time, by moderating debates and fostering collaboration;

・Apply TPS (Toyota Production System) methodologies to analyze processes in Arene Engineering, derive areas of improvement and manage the execution of improvement initiatives.

・Foster collaboration with other teams through regular information exchange;

・Work together with Arene Quality to document improved practices (processes, guidelines…)

Successful professionals on our team should be able to demonstrate these skills on a daily basis:

・An empathic leader capable of understanding human beings, identifying their strengths and their weaknesses;

・Excellent English communication and people engagement skills;

・Analytic approach to problem solving;

・Capability to quickly understand complex technical situations that usually involve people, processes and product;

・Familiarity with modern development processes and tools;

・Very good knowledge of project & product management practices;

・Very good knowledge of modern software development practices;

・Understanding of lean engineering best practices;

・Understanding of the Toyota Production System principles;

・Experience working in multicultural teams and openness to various cultures;

・Mindset for ownership, growth, and a bias for progress;

・Deep commitment to quality.

Experience with the following practices, technologies and tools is valued, but not strictly required. We focus on growing as a team and will help each other learn these skills.

・Several years of experience in the software engineering domain. Experienced in producing code;

・Understanding of quality management systems;

・Experience in Quality control;

・Knowledge of ISO 25000 family or similar;

・Automotive Industry engineering;

・Problems and conflicts resolution;

We know not everyone who could succeed in the Arene team will have a background in vehicles or robotics. We encourage people to apply from a variety of technical backgrounds, including (but not limited to):

・Web and mobile app, Video Games, Simulation, or High Performance Computing;

・Full life-cycle product development: from product-market fit, to production deployment;

・Manufacturing and supply chain management;

・Bilingual English and Japanese communication.

If you are currently located outside of Japan we will set an interview over Google Hangout Meet or Skype.

・Competitive Salary - Based on skills and experience

・Work Hours - Flexible working time with NO core-hours

・Paid Holiday - 20 days per year (prorated)

・Sick Leave - 6 days per year (prorated)

・Holiday - Sat & Sun, Japanese National Holidays, and other days defined by the company

・Japanese Social Security - all applicable (Health Insurance, Pension, Workers’ Comp, and Unemployment Insurance, Long-term care insurance)

・ Employee Benefits

・In-house Training Program (software study/language study)

By submitting your application you agree to the following terms: click here .

・We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity.

・We pledge that any information we receive from candidates will be used ONLY for the purpose of hiring assessment.