Lead Engineer, ML Platform, Tokyo

Only applicants residing in Japan are eligible to apply.

Overview

This role sits within Money Forward’s company-wide AI & data strategy organization (CDAO Office). In the Financier domain in particular (financial services / credit), you will lead the technical strategy and execution of an ML platform.

You will be responsible for end-to-end technical decision-making for designing a secure and efficient foundation to leverage large-scale financial transaction data, and for the technical direction of product implementation.

Background

To advance decision-making using Money Forward’s vast financial data (e.g., credit assessment), the platform side is held to an extremely high bar:

• Large-scale transaction processing: Build data pipelines that can process data at the scale of tens of millions of users without loss and with low latency, and supply it to products.
• Financial-grade governance and security: Build an architecture that ensures explainability and auditability at the code level, aligned with the Financial Services Agency’s model risk management principles and international AI ethics principles.
• Company-wide technical standardization: Define a reusable, cross-company MLOps environment while meeting product-specific requirements, and make technology choices that maximize development efficiency.

Responsibilities and Duties

You are expected to lead the direction of products and technology based on strong technical expertise.

• Define the ML platform technical strategy and roadmap
  • Translate business requirements into technical specifications and decide medium-to-long-term architectural direction.
• Design and oversee large-scale data engineering
  • Design data pipelines for high-traffic environments using Databricks and AWS, with performance considerations.
• Define implementation policies for governance and security
  • Establish “Security by Design,” including IAM/permission design, and build a foundation that balances security with operational ease.
• Drive technical alignment with stakeholders
  • Coordinate and prioritize with Engineering, Legal, Compliance, and Business teams based on technical validity.

Required Skills and Experience

• Software engineering experience (approx. 5+ years)
  • Design, development, and operations experience in backend, infrastructure, and/or data platforms.
• Technical leadership experience
  • Experience taking responsibility for architecture selection and technical decision-making as a tech lead or PM.
• Data engineering expertise
  • Proven results building large-scale datasets (ETL/DWH/data lakes) and performance tuning.
• Strong documentation skills
  • Ability to clearly articulate complex technical specifications and design rationale for stakeholders.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Hands-on MLOps experience
  • Building deployment/operation flows using Amazon SageMaker and/or Databricks.
• Financial domain knowledge
  • Experience building systems aligned with credit/risk measurement and FISC security guidelines.
• Product management track record
  • Roadmap management that maximizes product value within technical constraints.

Language Requirements

• Business level Japanese (equivalent to JLPT N2 or above)
• Basic business level English (equivalent to TOEIC 700 or above)
  • If you do not have a qualification equivalent to TOEIC 700 or above, you will be required to take a company-designated test during the selection process.
  • If you have other qualifications or experiences that demonstrate your English proficiency, please let us know.
    • Examples include Eiken Pre-1st Grade, Eiken 2nd Grade (Eiken CSE Score 1950 or above), TOEFL iBT 60 or above, IELTS 5.0 or above, Cambridge English FCE, etc.

※Please note that the interviews in the selection process will be conducted in Japanese.

Who We’re Looking For

• Strong resonance with Money Forward's vision
• Passionate about being a fan of our services and contributing to their growth
• Able to find practical optimal solutions balancing business growth and governance, not only technical ideals.
• Can frame regulations and security requirements as design considerations, and enjoy solving constraints-driven problems.
• Takes end-to-end responsibility—from technology selection to operations—and continuously improves.

Technology Stack

• Platform: AWS (SageMaker, Lambda, ECS, S3, etc.), Databricks
• Data: Python (FastAPI, etc.), SQL, Apache Airflow / Step Functions
• DevOps: Terraform, GitHub Actions, CodePipeline
• Communication: Slack, Notion

Work Environment

At Money Forward, we provide an environment where we can create world-class services together, and we are looking forward to welcoming you.

• Provided PC Specs: We provide PCs equipped with the latest CPUs (MacOS or Windows). Custom-made PCs tailored to business requirements and replacements with the latest OS are also possible.
• Systems to Enhance the Development Environment: Peripheral devices necessary for work (such as displays, mice, keyboards) can be purchased as office supplies. Generally, you can choose from standard products (catalog), and if conditions are met, you can apply for non-standard products as well.
• Money Forward Library: We have a library system where you can freely borrow books, ranging from technical books to management books. Desired books can be purchased at the company's expense.
• Referral Driven: We cover the cost of recruitment meals. There is a referral reward system.
• Conference Participation Support: The company partially covers participation in domestic and international conferences, such as RubyKaigi and Google I/O."