Human Resources Careers in Japan: What 396 Job Postings Ask For

Every figure on this page summarizes job postings tracked on AirTA. It describes what employers asked for in their postings, in aggregate, and is shown the same way to every reader. It is not a description of any individual’s career or prospects.

396
194
65%
37%

What Gets You In

  • 1-2 years of experience

    67

  • 3-4 years of experience

    90

  • 5-9 years of experience

    82

  • 10+ years of experience

    20

18%

31% day-to-day or above

  • Compensation & Benefits

    59%

  • Recruiting

    50%

  • HR Planning

    40%

  • Social Insurance

    33%

  • HR Business Partner

    32%

  • Employee Engagement

    30%

  • Onboarding

    30%

  • Organizational Development

    30%

396 postings

Levels by Experience

1–2 years

7%

19% day-to-day or above

67 postings

3–4 years

12%

24% day-to-day or above

  • Performance Management 30% (+15)

  • Compensation & Benefits 71% (+14)

  • Labor Management 29% (+14)

  • Social Insurance 42% (+11)

  • Recruiting 59% (+10)

90 postings

5–9 years

35%

40% day-to-day or above

  • Stakeholder Management 38% (+22)

  • Project Management 26% (+14)

  • Organizational Development 38% (+10)

82 postings

10+ years

25%

  • Recruiting 70% (+27)

  • Stakeholder Management 55% (+17)

  • HR Business Partner 50% (+15)

  • Global HR 25% (+12)

20 postings

Stated Pay

All postings

Median ¥6,500,000 · 148 postings state pay

¥5,300,000

25th to 75th percentile of stated salaries

¥8,500,000

1–2 years

Median ¥5,600,000 · 38 postings state pay

¥4,400,000

25th to 75th percentile of stated salaries

¥7,200,000

3–4 years

Median ¥6,500,000 · 43 postings state pay

¥5,700,000

25th to 75th percentile of stated salaries

¥8,400,000

Working Conditions

125 days

50 postings

28%
19%
  • Fully remote

    8

  • Hybrid

    72

  • On-site

    11

389 postings

What Comes Next

  • People management

    26

  • Senior leadership

    17

  • Specialist track

    9

  • Internal transfer or rotation

    5

Employers naming each step, of 30 that name one

Levels by Job Title

Specialist track

  • Entry / new graduate

    3

  • Junior / associate

    10

  • Senior

    17

  • Principal

    1

Management track

  • Team lead

    22

  • Manager

    39

  • Director

    10

  • Executive

    2

Individual-contributor level

31 postings from 19 employers

Every figure below summarizes job postings tracked on AirTA at this level. It describes what employers asked for in their postings, not any individual.

These figures summarize other postings tracked on AirTA, not this role.

Human Resources · individual-contributor level

29%

English · 28 postings

  • Daily English

    29%

  • Some English

    57%

  • No English stated

    14%

97%

Japanese · 29 postings

  • Native/Fluent (Native or JLPT N1)

    79%

  • Professional Working Proficiency (JLPT N2)

    17%

  • No level stated

    3%

3.5 years median (middle half 2 to 7.25)

over 20 postings stating a threshold

10% of postings (3)

Team-lead level

22 postings from 10 employers

Every figure below summarizes job postings tracked on AirTA at this level. It describes what employers asked for in their postings, not any individual.

These figures summarize other postings tracked on AirTA, not this role.

Human Resources · team-lead level

39%

English · 18 postings

  • Daily English

    39%

  • Some English

    33%

  • No English stated

    28%

83%

Japanese · 18 postings

  • Native/Fluent (Native or JLPT N1)

    72%

  • Professional Working Proficiency (JLPT N2)

    11%

  • No level stated

    17%

3 years median (middle half 2.5 to 4)

over 15 postings stating a threshold

14% of postings (3)

  • Performance Management 50% (+27 pts over the level below)

  • Project Management 36% (+20 pts over the level below)

  • HR Systems 23% (+17 pts over the level below)

  • Compensation & Benefits 50% (+11 pts over the level below)

terms counted over 22 postings at this level

5 openings are titled as a candidate for this level

Manager level

39 postings from 26 employers

Every figure below summarizes job postings tracked on AirTA at this level. It describes what employers asked for in their postings, not any individual.

These figures summarize other postings tracked on AirTA, not this role.

Human Resources · manager level

29%

English · 38 postings

  • Daily English

    29%

  • Some English

    58%

  • No English stated

    13%

87%

Japanese · 38 postings

  • Native/Fluent (Native or JLPT N1)

    63%

  • Professional Working Proficiency (JLPT N2)

    21%

  • Limited Working Proficiency (JLPT N3)

    3%

  • No level stated

    13%

5 years median (middle half 4 to 7.5)

over 27 postings stating a threshold

41% of postings (16)

  • Training & Development 33% (+33 pts over the level below)

  • HR Planning 31% (+22 pts over the level below)

  • Onboarding 21% (+16 pts over the level below)

  • Organizational Development 28% (+14 pts over the level below)

  • Excel 23% (+14 pts over the level below)

terms counted over 39 postings at this level

12 openings are titled as a candidate for this level

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Human Resources career ladder?

A level-by-level summary of what live Human Resources job postings tracked on AirTA ask for. Levels come from job titles (manager, director, senior and so on) and, separately, from the years of experience a posting states. Every figure is a statistic over those postings, refreshed daily.

Where do the numbers come from?

From the job postings AirTA collects from employer career sites and applicant tracking systems. Years of experience, certifications and management experience are read from the posting text; the level is read from the title; pay is the salary the employer stated on the posting. Nothing is estimated for an individual.

Why is there no pay figure at some levels?

A pay band publishes only when at least 30 postings at that level state a salary, and a median only from 10. Senior-level pay is rarely published in Japan, so the honest answer at some levels is no figure rather than a figure borrowed from another level.

What does "candidate for" mean?

Some postings are titled 「マネージャー候補」 or "Manager Candidate": the employer states in the title that the opening is for someone who will grow into that level. The ladder counts those titles as the employer wrote them. It does not predict anyone’s promotion.

Role information is sourced from companies' public careers pages. Listed companies are not affiliated with AirTA. Is this your company? Claim your listing or request removal.

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