People & Culture Manager

UltraSuperNew Tokyo is on the lookout for a People & Culture Manager who can keep our people thriving, our talent growing, and our operations running seamlessly. You’re the bridge between strategy, human connection, and agency growth—someone who brings empathy, structure, and vision to every stage of the employee experience. From driving proactive recruitment and talent retention to guiding career development and navigating Japanese labor standards.

This isn't just back-office administration; it's about actively building and nurturing a world-class team. You’ll partner closely with department leads, Finance, and senior leadership as a trusted advisor, talent strategist, compliance safeguard, and key culture driver. You're calm under pressure, discrete with sensitive matters, naturally approachable, and ready to balance high-level strategic talent planning with hands-on execution.

What You'll Be Doing:

1. Talent Acquisition & Retention

• Recruitment Strategy: Develop and execute proactive sourcing strategies to attract and hire top-tier creative and agency talent aligned with USN’s vision.
• Pipeline Building: Build and maintain active candidate pipelines for core agency roles, ensuring proactive hiring rather than reactive gap-filling.
• Retention & Employer Branding: Track turnover and engagement metrics, flag retention risks early, and partner with leads to showcase USN culture across the Tokyo creative scene.

2. Employee Lifecycle & Operations

• Lifecycle Management: Own the full employee journey—from seamless onboarding and probation check-ins to exit interviews that deliver actionable insights.
• HR Admin: Maintain contracts, handbooks, and policies, while overseeing visa and immigration procedures for international team members.

3. Performance Management & Career Development

• Reviews & Equity: Lead transparent, fair performance review cycles and partner with Finance to evaluate market alignment and salary equity.
• Growth Frameworks: Design career growth maps, leveling frameworks, leadership training, and mentor programs to guide employee progression.
• Goal Alignment: Connect growth frameworks directly into performance evaluations, promotions, and compensation reviews.

4. Compliance & Labor Standards

• Labor Compliance: Ensure full compliance with Japanese labor laws, overseeing work rules , statutory agreements, health and safety obligations, and legal safeguards across internal policies and contractor engagements.

5. Resource & Operational Support

• Workload & Team Health: Collaborate with Producers and Accounts to monitor workload distribution, resolve staffing bottlenecks, and prevent team burnout.
• Freelance Pool: Maintain the agency’s external partner and freelancer roster, tracking engagement records, quality, and availability.
• People & Culture: Monitor team sentiment, and partner with the Office Manager on team-building and culture initiatives.

What You'll Bring: Your Personality & Skills

• Location: Must be located in Tokyo.
• Bilingual Proficiency: Business-level fluency or higher in both Japanese and English (written & spoken).
• Experience: 5+ years in HR / People Management (with at least 2 years in a senior or standalone capacity), ideally within a creative, advertising, or marketing agency environment.
• Talent Sourcing Track Record: Proven experience in proactive recruitment, talent pipeline construction, and candidate engagement.
• Japanese Employment Law: Solid, practical grasp of Japanese employment regulations, work rules, visa processing, and statutory requirements.
• High Discretion & Integrity: Exceptional judgment and maturity when handling sensitive compensation, exit, or personnel matters.
• Stakeholder Influence: Skilled at advising and collaborating with department leads, Finance, and leadership without needing direct line authority over them.
• Process Builder: Comfortable building HR, onboarding, and recruitment workflows from scratch in a dynamic setting.

Benefits & Location

• Benefits: Statutory holidays and generous annual paid leave, full commuting allowance, Social, Labor, Employment Insurance, and Pension.
• Location: Shibuya, Tokyo (The heart of the action!)