Technical Sales & Engineering Recruitment in Japan
Hiring in Japan? Get the power of retained recruitment, without the upfront costs.
Finding industry-leading technical talent in Japan isn’t easy. Especially if you’re expanding into the market for the first time.
At Mase Consulting, we specialise in recruiting high-performing engineering and technical sales professionals, and we now offer this service across Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and wider Japan.
Technical Sales & Engineering Recruitment in Japan
Hiring in Japan? Get the power of retained recruitment, without the upfront costs.
Finding industry-leading technical talent in Japan isn’t easy. Especially if you’re expanding into the market for the first time.
At Mase Consulting, we specialise in recruiting high-performing engineering and technical sales professionals, and we now offer this service across Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and wider Japan.
But here’s the difference: our Retingency model gives you the depth of a retained search without the financial risk.
You only pay if we place. No upfront fees. No shortcuts.
Real Insight. Real Talent. Real Results.
We’re a trusted talent partner with a proven track record in headhunting technical sales and engineering professionals across the UK, Central Europe, Northern Europe and now Japan.
With a 92 percent placement success rate, we specialise in hard to fill roles in highly technical industries. Our expert consultants don’t just send CVs — they actively search, engage and secure high performing candidates who make a real impact on your business.
To help you make better hiring decisions, we also provide:
- Salary benchmarking to ensure your offer is competitive and market ready.
- Behavioural assessments to give real insight into how each candidate thinks and works.
We combine insight, experience and action to help you hire with clarity and confidence.
Our Recruitment Models
Every company’s hiring needs are different, so we’ve designed three flexible recruitment models — all built on the same collaborative approach. Whether you need support with a single vacancy, a retained search for a critical hire, or a dedicated talent acquisition partner, each model gives you the expertise, transparency, and results Mase Consulting is known for.
Retingency Recruitment
- Consultative and collaborative approach
- Proactive sourcing of active and passive candidates
- Market mapping and headhunting services
- Dedicated account manager
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This is a flexible, non-committal way to work with us. It combines the consultative approach and headhunting of a retained partnership, but with the pay-on-success model of contingency recruitment, meaning you only pay when a placement has been made.
Ideal for employers who want to fill a role, but aren’t ready to commit to a full retained partnership. Whilst this does not include some of the added features and benefits of our other recruitment models, it still provides you with access to our expertise, extensive network and tailored approach.
Retained Recruitment
Everything in our Retingency Model, plus:
- Candidate Behavioural Assessments for final-stage candidates
- Salary Benchmarking
- Discounts on recruitment fees applied
- Personally led by our Recruitment Director, who has over 24 years of success delivering niche and challenging hiring assignments.
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A staged payment model, led by our recruitment director, that secures dedicated support for your role. The total fee is split into three equal instalments, one-third to initiate our services, one-third on CV shortlist, and the final one-third upon offer acceptance. Should the chosen candidate fail to start the final one-third would be refunded.
Ready-to-go Talent Acquisition Team
Everything in our Retingency Model, plus:
- Candidate Behavioural Assessments for final-stage candidates
- Salary Benchmarking
- Higher discounts on recruitment fees applied
- Personally led by our Recruitment Director, who has over 24 years of success delivering niche and challenging hiring assignments.
- Dedicated recruiter(s) working exclusively and solely on your hiring projects
- Weekly activity reports and progress updates
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We act as an extension of your internal talent acquisition team, supporting you through periods of planned or unexpected recruitment demand.
Our time is booked and paid for in six-week increments, during which we allocate dedicated internal resources, including team members who work solely and exclusively on your hiring needs.
Recruitment fees are paid in addition on any successful hires; however these are heavily discounted compared with our standard terms, and you’ll receive detailed weekly activity reports showing the number of CVs reviewed, candidates contacted, interviewed, and submitted. This partnership can be extended, allowing us to continue covering multiple roles in line with your priorities.
Ideal for businesses in periods of high growth, but without the time or budget to increase their own internal hiring team.
Ready to identify brilliance ?
Get in touch with one of our recruitment experts today to see how we can help with your hiring efforts.
Recruitment Challenges in Japan
As more of our clients expand their operations into Japan, we’ve taken the time to understand the market, and why so many international businesses struggle to recruit technical sales and engineering professionals in the region.
Recruitment fees in Japan are noticeably higher than in Europe, reflecting the complexity of the market and the additional time and resources needed to find and engage key individuals.
With Japan’s culture of lifelong employment, changing jobs often seen as a sign of disloyalty, many professionals are reluctant to move companies, even when better opportunities are available to them. This significantly reduces the size of the talent pool, especially for niche technical sales and engineering roles.
Privacy concerns also play a role. Candidates are often cautious about sharing personal or professional details online, preferring to keep their employment history private and avoid appearing boastful. As a result, traditional online sourcing methods are less effective.
All of this means that recruitment in Japan takes more time, more strategic effort, and a much more personalised, headhunting-led approach.
If you’re planning to hire in Japan, book a call with us to understand how our tailored, headhunting-led approach can help you overcome these unique challenges and secure the talent you need.
SUCCESSFULHIRES
2000+
talented individuals
placed in UK, Europe, Middle East, North America & Asia.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
5 star
rating on Google, attesting to our commitment to excellence.
ASSIGNMENTS DELIVERED
92%
of assignments we’ve received have been successfully placed.
MARKETEXPERTS
15 Years +
of experience as trusted industry specialists.
QUALITYCANDIDATES
91%
of CVs we send to clients secure interviews.
Our current vacancies in Japan
See how our recruitment and salary benchmarking solutions could benefit your business.
If you’re seeking a technical sales and engineering recruitment partner or looking for insights into salary and compensation packages, we suggest scheduling a chat with one of our specialists.
To book a discovery call with one of our experts, simply click on the relevant tab below and submit your details.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Recruitment in Japan
Discover insights into Japan’s technical sales and engineering recruitment landscape. Our FAQs explain how Mase Consulting helps employers connect with high-performing professionals and supports candidates pursuing career growth in this advanced and fast-evolving market.
We recruit experienced professionals across mid to senior levels in technical sales, engineering and service positions. This includes Sales Engineers, Applications Engineers, Technical Managers, Service Engineers, Product Specialists and Country Managers, primarily within automation, industrial machinery, flow control and electronics sectors.
Japan has a unique hiring culture shaped by loyalty and long-term employment. Many engineers and sales professionals remain with the same employer for most of their career, making it difficult to attract passive candidates. Combined with a national shortage of technical professionals and limited English-speaking talent, the available candidate pool is significantly smaller than in most Western markets.
Extremely competitive. With high demand for automation, energy, and semiconductor engineers, most qualified professionals are already employed and not actively seeking change. Employers must provide compelling opportunities, long-term security, and a culturally sensitive approach to stand out.
Japanese professionals value stability, respect, and trust. They expect clear long-term prospects, respectful communication, and a strong sense of corporate integrity. Employers that offer genuine career growth and a respectful hiring process are far more likely to gain interest.
Our Salary Benchmarking tool gives up-to-date, localised data on salary expectations for technical sales and engineering roles across Japan. It helps companies remain competitive and build accurate budgets in a market where compensation norms differ greatly by industry and region.
We use a headhunting-led, relationship-first model — engaging candidates personally rather than relying on online databases. Our approach respects cultural expectations, ensuring confidentiality and trust throughout the process.
Cultural misunderstandings are the biggest barrier. Western companies often underestimate how much emphasis Japanese candidates place on loyalty, hierarchy and group harmony. Standard CV screening or transactional outreach rarely works — recruitment here requires patience, persistence and reputation-building.
We blend local market understanding with international best practice. Our consultants approach candidates with cultural sensitivity, clear communication and deep technical knowledge — ensuring our clients receive high-quality, engaged professionals who are the right fit both technically and culturally.