The Director of Sales & Account Management, Japan for Patent & IP Services is a pivotal leadership role responsible for driving revenue growth, expanding market presence, and deepening client relationships across Japan. This individual will oversee sales activities across multiple service lines — including Patent Filing & Translation, IP Research & Patent Litigation, Patent Renewals, and IP Maintenance — while ensuring alignment with the company's global strategy.

Working closely with the Vice Presidents of Product, Operations, and other senior leaders within RWS IP Services, this role will play a critical part in integrating sales excellence with operational efficiency and client success. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in Japan's patent and IP ecosystem, a proven record in sales & account management leadership, and the ability to drive collaboration across business units.

About Protect
We help Protect our customers' ideas and innovations

Key Responsibilities
Job Overview

• Sales Leadership & Strategy

• Develop and execute a comprehensive sales strategy for Japan across Patent Filing & Translation, IP Research & Patent Litigation, Patent Renewals, and IP Maintenance services.

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing regional sales team to achieve and exceed revenue targets.
• Partner with the marketing team to design and launch campaigns tailored to Japan's IP market, building awareness and generating qualified leads.

• Identify and pursue cross-selling opportunities across all RWS IP service lines to maximize client value and market penetration.

• Client Engagement & Account Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key Japanese clients, law firms, and corporations by collaborating with Account Development and Key Account Management teams.

• Ensure a deep understanding of client needs, industry trends, and regulatory environments specific to Japan's IP landscape.
• Lead major client negotiations and oversee long-term contract and partnership development.

• Deliver tailored solutions that support clients throughout the full IP lifecycle including filing and translation to research, litigation, renewals, and maintenance.

• Collaboration & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work in close partnership with the Product and Operations teams to align client feedback, service delivery, and innovation roadmaps.

• Collaborate with global business leaders to ensure consistency of messaging, pricing strategy, and go-to-market alignment across regions.

• Provide internal training to enhance organizational understanding of Japan's IP market and service offerings

• Revenue Management

• Own and manage revenue targets across all patent and IP service lines in Japan.

• Monitor performance metrics, analyze sales data, and adjust strategies to optimize growth and profitability.

• Provide regular performance updates, forecasts, and insights to the global executive team.

• Marketing & Event Support

• Support marketing initiatives through event participation, thought leadership contributions, and client-facing presentations.

• Represent RWS IP Services at major industry events, conferences, and exhibitions across Japan to build brand recognition and thought leadership presence.

• Training & Development

• Lead internal and client-facing training sessions focused on RWS's IP service portfolio.

• Mentor and develop team members to strengthen sales capabilities and ensure long-term success in the region.

Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in a senior sales leadership role within the intellectual property, patent services, or related professional services sector.
• Strong understanding of Japan's IP environment, including patent filing, translation, research, litigation, renewals, and maintenance processes.
• Proven success in leading teams and achieving or exceeding sales and revenue goals.
• Experience managing complex client relationships and long-term contracts in a cross-functional, multinational organization.
• Bilingual proficiency in Japanese and English strongly preferred.

Life at RWS
Life at RWS
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If you like the idea of working with smart people who are passionate about growing the value of ideas, data and content by making sure organizations are understood , then you'll love life at RWS.

Our purpose is to unlock global understanding. This means our work fundamentally recognizes the value of every language and culture. So, we celebrate difference, we are inclusive and believe that diversity makes us strong. We want every employee to grow as an individual and excel in their career.

In return, we expect all our people to live by the values that unite us:
to partner
, putting clients fist and winning together
, to pioneer
, innovating fearlessly and leading with vision and courage,
to progress
, aiming high and growing through actions and
to deliver
, owning the outcome and building trust with our colleagues and clients.

RWS embraces DEI
and promotes equal opportunity, we are an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. RWS is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at RWS are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation. RWS will not tolerate discrimination based on any of these characteristics.

RWS Values
Get the 3Ps right – Partner, Pioneer, Progress – and we´ll Deliver together as RWS.

Recruitment Agencies:
RWS Holdings PLC does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward any unsolicited resumes to any RWS employees. Any unsolicited resume received will be treated as the property of RWS and Terms & Conditions associated with the use of such resume will be considered null and void.