Overview
Director, Engineering Excellence Jobs in Osaka, Japan at Universal Studios Japan(USJ LLC)
Title: Director, Engineering Excellence
Company: Universal Studios Japan(USJ LLC)
Location: Osaka, Japan
JOB SUMMARY:
Provide overall leadership and direction for the Engineering Excellence Group (EEG), comprising 30–35 professionals across four key functions: Engineering Compliance, Document Control, Quality Assurance (QA), and Quality Control (QC). Drive strategic initiatives to ensure all USJ rides, shows, and attractions to consistently meet or exceed UDX standards, regulatory requirements, and manufacturer specifications, while to continue to promote a culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
- Develop and enforce comprehensive USJ Engineering processes and procedures that ensure full compliance across all Sustaining and New Project Engineering activities. This includes engineering change control, workflow traceability, software asset management, and rigorous validation recordkeeping. Continuously monitor and interpret regulatory changes to maintain compliance, and compile attraction incident reports to drive proactive safety management and performance improvement.
- Develop, implement, and sustain a robust Show/Ride Engineering Document Management System to govern all attraction-related technical records—including design documents, drawings, revision histories, service bulletins, manuals, vendor transmittals, and other engineering deliverables. Lead the digital transformation of legacy paper documentation into secure electronic formats, oversee the curation and validation of all incoming design assets, and ensure timely, controlled access to accurate technical information for Operations, Technical Services, Sustaining Engineering, and New Project Engineering teams.
- Build and lead the Engineering Quality Control (QC) team to independently evaluate and audit maintenance practices, ensuring strict adherence to vendor specifications, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. Oversee routine inspection, testing, and measurement of critical attraction components, and manage the parts receiving inspection program to confirm quality, safety, and compliance prior to installation.
- Establish and lead the Engineering Quality Assurance (QA) team responsible for developing the policies, standards, and processes that guide and elevate all Quality Control activities. Foster a strong culture of continuous improvement to enhance quality governance, strengthen cross-disciplinary alignment, and advance overall engineering excellence.
- Establish and maintain positive and collaborative work environment for team members. Develop, coach and engage members to achieve organizational goals.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: 3 Managers and indirectly 32 Crew Members.
Additional information: Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws.
QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities (KSAs) required.
- Experience in theme park or hospitality industry management in a leadership role with proven outcomes managing multiple technical disciplines.
- Strong analytical skills to perform engineering calculations for design, analysis, test and measurement of ride and show systems.
- Experience with generation of ride specifications, acceptance test procedures, technical compliance, system risk assessments and failure analysis.
- Exceptional communications, organizational and project management skills with strong ability to collaborate across multiple disciplines.
Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Consistent attendance is a job requirement.
EDUCATION:
Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent is preferred.
EXPERIENCE:
10+ years in management experience in an Engineering environment focused primarily on project management, vendor management, and in-field experience, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience. 5+ years of theme park experience is preferred.
