Get to know The Pokémon Company International
The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children's entertainment properties in the world.
Learn more online at corporate.pokemon.com and pokemon.com.
Get to know the role
- Job Title: Sr. Manager, Platform Architect for E-Commerce and Vending Machines
- Job Summary:
The Sr. Manager, Platform Architect for E-Commerce and Vending Machines is a senior technology leader responsible for defining the technical vision and managing the execution strategy for an integrated commerce ecosystem.
This includes both online retail platforms and automated physical vending solutions. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise in scalable architecture and strong leadership capabilities to align technology initiatives with business goals, delivering a seamless Direct-to-Consumer experience.
- FLSA Classification (US Only): Exempt
- People Manager: Yes
What you’ll do
Strategic Planning & Vision
- Define and maintain the architecture roadmap for e-commerce (web/mobile) and vending machine platforms.
- Ensure alignment with business objectives, scalability, and long-term growth strategies.
- Drive the evolution toward unified commerce components, when reasonable, ensuring seamless customer experiences across online, physical, and emerging channels (e.g., Vending, Digital Commerce, Physical Stores)
System Design & Integration
- Architect and oversee integration of core systems including e-commerce platforms, payment gateways, ERP integrations, inventory management via an OMS, and vending machine backend systems.
- Enable real-time inventory tracking, remote device management, integrated front-end experience to E-commerce CMS, and secure payment processing.
Technical Leadership & Team Management
- Lead and mentor a team of solution architects and engineers.
- Directly manage People Managers, providing mentorship, performance management, and career development support.
- Foster a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and accountability.
- Serve as a technical escalation point for complex design and implementation decisions.
Scalability, Performance, & Security
- Ensure platforms are highly available, scalable, and optimized for high transaction volumes.
- Enforce compliance with enterprise-grade security standards and data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
Technology Evaluation & Adoption
- Conduct build-vs-buy analyses to select appropriate technologies, frameworks, and third-party integrations.
- Prevent technology sprawl while promoting modular, maintainable solutions.
- Leverage cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), microservices, APIs, and containerization.
- Manage relationships with technology vendors and service partners, ensuring alignment with business needs and maximizing value from third-party solutions.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with product, engineering, data, security, marketing, and operations teams.
- Translate business requirements into robust technical solutions that support a consistent omnichannel experience.
- Champion change management initiatives, influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams to adopt new technologies and processes.
Troubleshooting & Optimization
- Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks and technical issues.
- Use analytics and data insights to drive continuous platform improvements.
- Lead the adoption of advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making, leveraging insights to optimize platform performance, customer engagement, and business outcomes.
What you’ll bring
- Ten (10) years of relevant professional experience or a demonstrated equivalent level of expertise, plus a minimum of three (3) years, preferably five (5), of people management experience.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field.
- Proven track record of leading technical teams and delivering complex, scalable solutions.
- Ability to travel up to 4 times per year domestically and internationally.
- Technical Expertise:
- Deep knowledge of e-commerce platforms (Elastic Path, Salesforce, Magento, Oracle Commerce Clout).
- Proficiency in cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP), microservices, APIs, and event-driven architectures.
- Modern headless commerce architectures (e.g., Elastic Path, Composable Commerce).
- Integration with IoT devices and real-time telemetry.
- API-first and event-driven design patterns.
- Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipelines.
- Strong programming skills in languages such as Java, Python, and Node.js.
- Solid understanding of networking, security protocols, and payment systems.
- Experience leading technology integration during organizational mergers or platform consolidations is highly desirable.
- Leadership & Communication:
- Exceptional ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence technology strategy.
- Skilled in stakeholder management and translating technical concepts into business value.
- Mindset:
- Engineering-driven approach with a passion for continuous improvement.
- Ability to bring structure, and clarity to complex, distributed systems.
Base Salary Range: For this role, new hires generally start between $178,000.00 - $211,000.00 per year. The full range is $178,000.00 - $266,000.00 per year. This range is applicable for the labor market where the role is intended to be hired. The final base salary is directly related to the candidate’s qualifications and professional experience uniquely.
#LI-JL1 #LI-Hybrid
How you’ll be successful
- Passion for Pokémon: Develops an understanding of the Pokémon brand, the impact it has on our people, culture, business, fans, and communities, and applying that knowledge and passion to everything you do.
- Challenging the Expected: Approaches challenges with curiosity and creativity, embracing the possibility of failure as an opportunity to learn something new, develop innovative ideas, solve complex problems and identify unique opportunities.
- Integrity and Respect: Demonstrates integrity and respect by leading with empathy, listening to others, seeking out different perspectives, and taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and results.
- Dedicated to Quality: Takes ownership to maintain and promote high standards, looks for new ways to learn and improve, and embraces a growth mindset to seek and apply feedback from others in an effort to continuously improve.
- Building Relationships: Develops and strengthens relationships, adopting a “team first” mentality and working collaboratively to solve problems and meet shared goals.
- Delighting Customers: Listens and understands the interests and needs of our customers and stakeholders, making them feel heard and important, and embracing these learnings to continue delivering a unique Pokémon experience.
What to expect
- An innovative culture driven by impact, delivering meaningful outcomes.
- Company events that celebrate the spirit of Pokémon.
- Competitive cash-based compensation programs.
- 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for you.
- Generous paid family leave.
- Employer-paid life insurance.
- Employer-paid long and short-term income protection insurance.
- US Employees: 401k Employer Matching.
- UK/IRE/MX Employees: Pension Employer Contributions.
- Fitness reimbursement.
- Commuter benefit.
- LinkedIn learning.
- Comprehensive relocation package for certain roles.
- Hybrid work environment.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this role. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. For roles in the United Kingdom, candidates will need the right to work. In some cases, and for some roles, the Company may be able to arrange a visa. For roles in Ireland, this role requires candidates to have the right to live and work in the Republic of Ireland. However, we welcome applications from all nationalities and may consider supporting an employment permit application, in appropriate and suitable cases.
The Pokémon Company International is committed to the inclusion of all qualified applicants for consideration in our job application process. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview, or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at accommodationrequest_ta@pokemon.com.