HR & Organizational Strategy

Profile

Nobu Sato (佐藤伸明) is an HR and organizational strategy practitioner based in Tokyo. Trained in software engineering, he began as an IT project manager before moving through tech recruiting, RPO and head-of-HR roles into organizational strategy. The common thread is a preference for giving a first shape to organizations that do not yet have one.

Career

2011 – 2016
Major logistics group, HQ systems division
IT project manager
2016 – 2018
Major HR-tech company
Tech recruiter. Led new-graduate engineer hiring for the China region; deployed an ATS to standardize the recruiting process
2018 – 2019
Industrial robotics company
Technical recruiter. Launched the global recruiting practice; cut cost and lead time per hire
2019 – 2020
Global talent consulting firm
RPO recruiter. 70+ placements in one year with a team of two assistants
2020 – 2021
Robotics startup
Head of HR. 50+ hires in one year; designed and rolled out the performance review system
2021 – 2025
Internet and gaming company
Head of HR. Built recruiting and performance review from scratch; labor-cost management and manager training; launched the Taipei and Shanghai offices
2025 –
Foreign fintech company, Japan entity
Head of HR & Strategy. Rebuilt HR operations, built the sales organization, hired the Japan leadership team, opened the Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa offices

Education and languages

2011
Waseda University, Master of Engineering
2009
Nanjing University, Bachelor of Software Engineering
Works in Japanese, English and Chinese

How I work

Design the sequence

Not what to do, but in what order. Most launch-phase failures are sequencing problems, not effort problems.

Measure people by responsibility

Define roles as modules of responsibility rather than titles or job families. Only then can fit between a person and a role be judged.

Same resolution for HQ and the front line

A language barrier should never become a judgment barrier. Decision-makers at headquarters and the team in Japan should see the same facts at the same precision.

Writing about building organizations in Japan, in three languages.

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