Head of Marketing - Japan

MKTQ127R2 Databricks is seeking an exceptional marketing leader to serve as Head of Marketing for Japan. As Head of Marketing for Japan, you will serve as the country marketing leader and strategic business partner to the Japan leadership team helping shape overall go-to-market strategy. You will be responsible for defining and executing Databricks’ integrated marketing strategy for Japan to accelerate category leadership, pipeline growth, customer adoption, and long-term market expansion. This includes building Databricks’ reputation and presence in one of our most strategic global markets while ensuring marketing is deeply aligned to business priorities across sales, partners, customer success, and corporate functions. This role requires a highly strategic, commercially-minded marketing executive who can balance long-term market development with near-term revenue accountability. Reporting to the VP Marketing, APJ, you will lead cross-functional orchestration across global, APJ, and in-country teams to deliver high-impact, locally relevant programs that drive measurable business outcomes. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Business & Market Leadership • Serve as the senior marketing leader and trusted advisor to the Japan leadership team, contributing to country strategy and operating as a key voice in market planning and execution. • Own country marketing strategy across reputation, demand, customer engagement, and ecosystem development. • Partner closely with country sales leadership to align marketing investments with strategic growth priorities, whitespace opportunities, and account segmentation. Integrated Marketing Strategy • Develop and execute Japan’s end-to-end marketing strategy across brand, demand generation, executive engagement, customer marketing, communications, and events. • Ensure global and APJ campaigns are effectively localized and activated to maximize impact in-market. • Build innovative, high-performing programs tailored to Japan’s unique buyer, cultural, and market dynamics. Partner Marketing & Ecosystem Development • Develop partner marketing strategy in close partnership with alliances and cloud ecosystem teams. • Leverage partners as a force multiplier to expand market reach, accelerate pipeline creation, and deepen customer engagement. • Build joint go-to-market motions with strategic ecosystem partners. AI-First Marketing Leadership • Champion modern, AI-enabled marketing practices and help evolve the Japan marketing organization toward AI-native ways of working. • Demonstrate fluency in emerging AI technologies and their implications for marketing execution, productivity, and customer engagement. • Continuously identify opportunities to improve marketing effectiveness through data, automation, and AI. Team Leadership & Talent Development • Coach and mentor talent to elevate strategic thinking, executional excellence, and future leadership capability. • Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. Success Measures / Outcomes • Drive measurable contribution to pipeline, consumption, and customer adoption targets in Japan. • Increase Databricks’ reputation, awareness, and category leadership. • Expand partner-sourced / partner-influenced pipeline contribution. • Build a high-performing, scalable marketing team and operating model for Japan. • Establish marketing as a strategic growth driver and trusted business partner to the Japan leadership team. What We Look For • 15+ years of progressive marketing leadership experience in enterprise technology / high-growth software environments. • Proven experience leading country or regional marketing organizations in Japan. • Demonstrated ability to operate as a strategic business leader and partner to senior sales / country executives. • Strong experience across field marketing, demand generation, executive engagement, partner marketing, communications, and events. • Deep understanding of enterprise go-to-market models and complex B2B buying journeys. • Strong commercial acumen with fluency in pipeline, funnel, and revenue metrics. • Demonstrated experience building and developing high-performing teams. • Strong understanding of AI’s impact on marketing and go-to-market, with ability to lead modern AI-enabled marketing transformation. • Exceptional communication, executive presence, and stakeholder management skills. • Native / fluent Japanese and business-level English required. About Databricks Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and 70% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data + AI Platform to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified platform that includes Genie, Lakebase, Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram. Benefits At Databricks, we strive to provide comprehensive benefits and perks that meet the needs of all of our employees. For specific details on the benefits offered in your region click here. Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion At Databricks, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can excel. We take great care to ensure that our hiring practices are inclusive and meet equal employment opportunity standards. Individuals looking for employment at Databricks are considered without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. Compliance If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer's discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.