WE ARE HIRING · 採用情報
Head of Product Communications
Tokyo
Kotoba builds frontier speech AI. We're hiring a Head of Product Communications to run how we talk about all of it — our enterprise model licensing and API business, and Kotoba app for real-time interpretation. Big partnership news, new feature launches, everything in between.
ABOUT KOTOBA
At the frontier of voice generation AI
Kotoba is a generative AI company on a mission to “become the defacto for voice AI in East Asia,” developing state-of-the-art voice generation AI models. At our core is a low-latency, high-accuracy speech translation model that connects conversations so naturally it feels as though both speakers share the same language. It supports major language pairs — including Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, and Spanish — breaking down the language barrier. We also develop our own ultra-low-latency speech-to-text and text-to-speech models that run everywhere from the data center to edge devices, and we license this foundational technology, which powers the next generation of voice agents, to Fortune 50 companies and major U.S. tech firms. We create world-class voice AI from our two hubs in Tokyo and San Francisco.
Kotoba brings this technology to the world through its own product, the Kotoba app, available on iOS and Android. Since launch it has won explosive support across countries and regions including Japan and Korea, growing to a steady 2,000–3,000 new downloads per day. In the App Store and Google Play category rankings, it has reached No. 1 in its category, ahead of the likes of Google Translate and Audible. Loved by individual users, it is also seeing accelerating adoption among major enterprises — centered on Japan — and has supported nearly 100 events on the ground, including SusHi Tech Tokyo. It has drawn media attention as well, featured on numerous programs such as TV Asahi, NHK, TV Tokyo, Abema Prime, and PIVOT.
Kotoba was founded in 2023 by two Japanese generative AI researchers who earned their PhDs at top U.S. universities. To date it has raised a cumulative total of more than ¥3 billion (roughly US$23 million) from prominent VCs in Japan and the U.S. (including Kindred Ventures and Globis Capital Partners) and from the corporate venture arms of leading U.S. and Japanese enterprises, and it also receives strong government support in Japan for AI model training. World-class research paired with a product that keeps winning in the market — with both, Kotoba is one of the most exciting generative AI startups today.
Media
— TV Tokyo：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17CG6kSv2zs
— TV Asahi：https://tver.jp/episodes/epy340m62i
— PIVOT：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N30YYfIqGEg
Kotoba was founded in 2023 by two Japanese generative AI researchers who earned their PhDs at top U.S. universities. To date it has raised a cumulative total of more than ¥3 billion (roughly US$23 million) from prominent VCs in Japan and the U.S. (including Kindred Ventures and Globis Capital Partners) and from the corporate venture arms of leading U.S. and Japanese enterprises, and it also receives strong government support in Japan for AI model training. World-class research paired with a product that keeps winning in the market — with both, Kotoba is one of the most exciting generative AI startups today.
ROLE DESCRIPTION
THE ROLE
As Head of Product Communications, you'll own PR and product marketing at Kotoba, and lead how we tell our story as a company. Kotoba has two businesses. The first licenses our speech AI models and provides API access to large enterprises. The second is Kotoba app, our simultaneous interpretation SaaS. In this role, you'll plan and execute communications across very different scales — from top-down moments like enterprise partnership announcements, government collaborations, and artist collaborations, to bottom-up product marketing like new feature releases. You'll bring together what teams across the company want to say, work closely with outside PR firms and media, and make sure every announcement lands as well as it possibly can. Japan is our primary market, and we're also looking for you to lead our English-language communications in the US. This is a role with real proximity to the leadership team — and the room to design how Kotoba communicates.
RESPONSIBILITIES
What you'll do
•Take a bird's-eye view of the many projects running in parallel at Kotoba, shape the overall direction of our PR strategy, and drive it forward through ongoing discussion with the leadership team.
•Plan and execute PR for product partnership announcements with major enterprises —writing press releases, handling media communications, and making each announcement land as well as it possibly can.
•Lead publicity for collaborations involving Kotoba, such as promotions with artists or the use of our technology at large-scale events.
•Drive product marketing communications for new features and updates to Kotoba app.
•Gather communications needs from teams across the company — leadership, product, sales — and design and run the communications calendar.
•Direct and collaborate with our external PR firms, and build lasting relationships with the media.
•Anchor our communications in the Japanese market while leading English-language communications for the US, working alongside PR partners on the ground there.
QUALIFICATIONS
Who we're looking for
Required
•Hands-on experience in PR/communications or marketing.
•The ability to drive communications work yourself — writing press releases, handling media inquiries, and everything in between.
•Comfort working across communications of very different scales, from top-down major announcements to bottom-up feature launches.
•Enough experience to hit the ground running, paired with the drive to operate independently and move fast.
•Native-level Japanese.
•A fit for the pace and intensity of an AI startup.
Preferred
•Communications, PR, or marketing experience at a fast-growing startup, especially in the AI industry.
•The ability to communicate and publish in English.
•An existing network of media and journalist contacts.
HOW TO APPLY
If you’re interested, please apply Kotoba’s hiring team directly
at hiring@kotoba.tech with your resume attached.
