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 when we deliver a successful placement.
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.
Contingency Recruitment
- Payment Upon Placement
- Basic Search
- Focus Only on Active Candidates
- 25% Placement Rate (Industry Average)
Our Retingency Service
- Proactive Searching of Active & Passive Candidates
- Market Mapping & Headhunting Services
- Consultative & Collaborative Approach
- Deep Understanding of the Role & Industry
- Dedicated Account Manager
- Candidate Behavioural Assessments Provided
- 92% Successful Placement Rate
- Payment Upon Successful Placement (No Upfront Costs)
Retained Recruitment
- Proactive Searching
- Deep Understanding of Role & Industry
- Collaborative Approach
- Initial Part Payment Required
Contingency Recruitment
- Payment Upon Placement
- Basic Search
- Focus Only on Active Candidates
- 25% Placement Rate (Industry Average)
Retained Recruitment
- Proactive Searching
- Deep Understanding of Role & Industry
- Collaborative Approach
- Initial Part Payment Required
Our Retingency Service
- Proactive Searching of Active & Passive Candidates
- Market Mapping & Headhunting Services
- Consultative & Collaborative Approach
- Deep Understanding of the Role & Industry
- Dedicated Account Manager
- Candidate Behavioural Assessments Provided
- 92% Successful Placement Rate
- Payment Upon Successful Placement (No Upfront Costs)
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.
How our retingency approach addresses recruitment challenges:
Upfront Costs
Expanding into Japan often requires a specialist recruiter, but traditional retained models ask for upfront costs before results. With our Retingency model, you get all the benefits of a retained search (dedicated account manager, headhunting, strategy) but only pay when we deliver a successful placement.
No financial risk. No compromise on quality.
Lack of Candidate Insights
When hiring in a new country like Japan, guessing isn’t an option. That’s why we include behavioural assessments in our process at no extra cost. It gives you deeper insight into how a candidate thinks and works, helping you avoid costly mis-hires and make better decisions, backed by data, not just instinct.
Continuity
Many contingency recruiters focus on volume, not value, especially across borders. We take a different approach. With our Retingency model, you get a dedicated account manager and a team who have a deep understanding of your industry and goals. We’ll align closely with your needs and deliver culturally and commercially suitable candidates across Japan.
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.