Japan Technical Partnerships Manager

Fluent in Japanese and English, and energized by work that bridges both? At Realta Fusion, you'll be the connective tissue between our engineering team in Madison and the Japanese partners, suppliers, and investors helping bring compact fusion energy to market.

Realta Fusion is a rapidly growing start-up developing compact magnetic mirror fusion energy systems to address the biggest challenge of our time – tackling global climate change while ensuring a sufficient energy supply for at least ten billion people on (and off) earth. We are building a team with diverse talents dedicated to making fusion energy a real solution to humanity's most pressing problem.

The Japan Technical Partnerships Manager will serve as Realta's primary bilingual interface with Japanese engineering partners, suppliers, and investors. This role sits at the intersection of technical collaboration and relationship management, supporting the design, procurement, and operational coordination of complex electromechanical systems — including neutral beam injection and high-power power supply systems — developed jointly with partners in Japan. This is not a deep technical design role: the successful candidate will have an engineering background sufficient to follow system-level conversations and technical documentation, but will spend the majority of their time on communication, coordination, translation and interpretation, project management, and relationship stewardship, ensuring that technical intent, schedule commitments, and business terms translate cleanly across language and culture in both directions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary bilingual point of contact between Realta's engineering teams and Japanese partner organizations on joint design, procurement, and operations efforts.
• Interpret and translate in real time during technical meetings, design reviews, and negotiations; translate technical documents, specifications, and correspondence.
• Track project milestones, action items, and deliverables across partner organizations; flag schedule and scope risks early and resolve cross-organizational misunderstandings before they become costly.
• Support procurement conversations with Japanese suppliers and vendors, including RFQs, contract terms, and delivery coordination.
• Support meetings and communications with Japanese investors, including translation, cultural framing, and follow-up coordination.
• Build and maintain trust-based relationships with partner engineers, executives, and investors, applying strong cultural fluency and business etiquette.
• Travel to Japan periodically to support in-person meetings, site visits, and design reviews.
• Coordinate logistics for partner visits to Realta's Madison facilities.

Required Qualifications

• Fluent (business-level or native) Japanese and English, written and spoken.
• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline (mechanical, electrical, or related); an engineering background sufficient to follow technical discussions is required, though deep technical design experience is not.
• Demonstrated project management skills, including tracking multi-party deliverables, schedules, and risks across time zones and organizations.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including experience working cross-culturally in a Japanese business context.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and translating between engineering, procurement, and executive or investor audiences.
• Willingness to travel internationally on a periodic basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience supporting technical or industrial partnerships between US and Japanese organizations.
• Experience in energy, semiconductor, industrial equipment, or other complex hardware sectors.
• Familiarity with fusion, plasma physics, or high-power electrical systems.
• Experience supporting investor relations or fundraising conversations.

Compensation and Benefits

What we are working on is hard… and hugely important. Realta Fusion is assembling a talented team bound together by a passion to solve humanity's biggest challenge with first-of-a-kind technology. Additionally, Realta offers:

• Competitive compensation package, including equity stock options
• Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, and vision insurance, plus a retirement savings plan
• Flexible paid time off (PTO) to support work-life balance
• Work and live in Madison, Wisconsin — one of America's most livable and vibrant cities

We value diversity as a critical factor in innovation and believe a diverse team is necessary to solve the toughest problems. We aim to create an inclusive environment that unleashes the full creativity of our team members from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals based on merit and without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws.