Role Summary

Shapefarm is a development studio, based in Japan, owned by games publisher, Kepler Interactive. 

We are looking for a bilingual community manager (Japanese and English speaking) to lead on the localisation of our global community and strategy for a new release title into the Japanese market. 

You will take marketing direction from Kepler’s vision and go-to-market strategy led by our central marketing team to ensure consistency in key messaging, and engaging the local audience, whilst working closely with the development team to represent the voice of our players internally. 

This role bridges the gap between players and developers, ensuring the community feels heard and excited about our products, while also executing targeted marketing initiatives that drive engagement and growth in both the Japanese and global markets.

Key responsibilities

 Strategy and planning

• Define and implement local community strategies for the Japanese market, for each game across different stages (pre-announcement, development, early access, launch, post-launch), according to the global marketing plans.

• Build and maintain our community playbooks, tone & voice guidelines, and engagement best practices for the Japanese community

Community engagement

• Manage and moderate official local community channels (e.g., Discord, Twitter/X, Steam Forums, Reddit as well as other dedicated Japanese social networks)

• Regularly engage with our Japanese players through posts, polls, AMAs, and live chat

• Answer questions, share updates, and spark conversations in a consistent and friendly tone

• Spotlight community content, feedback, and fan creations

Listening and feedback

• Monitor sentiment and trends within the community and gaming spaces

• Collect, summarise, and present community feedback to the dev team in a clear, actionable format

• Create monthly reports highlighting growth, engagement, issues, and opportunities

Community events and campaigns

• Plan and host online events such as playtests, community challenges, developer Q&As, livestreams, etc.

• Collaborate with artists and streamers for community spotlights, giveaways, and contests

Moderation and health

• Maintain a welcoming, inclusive, and respectful environment on all platforms

• Set and enforce community guidelines, working with volunteer mods if needed

• Address toxicity and conflicts with care and professionalism

Marketing

Content and social media

• Plan and execute social media content calendars (e.g., Discord, Twitter/X, Instagram, Tik Tok, Steam Forums, Reddit as well as other dedicated Japanese social networks)

• Write and schedule engaging posts about development updates, milestones, and behind-the-scenes content

• Help craft dev blogs, patch notes, and announcement posts with the team

Campaign support

• Assist in planning and executing indie-friendly launch campaigns (e.g., Steam Next Fest, Kickstarter, Early Access)

• Coordinate with influencers, press, and content creators for promotion

• Track performance and tweak campaigns based on engagement data

Creative collaboration

• Work with artists, devs, and external partners to create visual content (memes, trailers, banners, devlogs)

• Capture gameplay footage in early versions of the Game as well as behind-the-scenes content in studio

• Support the studio's overall branding and storytelling

Skills & Behavioural Competencies

• Initiative and autonomy: You take responsibility for your work and are able to work autonomously. You show initiative and determine when issues should be escalated.

• Clear, consistent and proactive communicator: You think about what information people need and convey that information in a transparent, clear and timely manner. You check to see if people have understood or need additional information. You identify when you need more information to do your job and ask for it.

• Problem solving: Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to exercise sound judgement and make decisions based on accurate and timely information.

• Openness to change: You want to learn what works, share ideas, and are willing to try new things out. You are adaptable and prepared to shift direction after discussion about benefits and risks.

• Teamwork: You assist and support the people around you, share your knowledge and get on with team members.

• Planning, organisation, and attention to detail: You develop and use systems to organise and keep track of information or work progress. You review and check the accuracy of information. You can work on and prioritise multiple initiatives at the same time.

Qualifications and Experience

Required:

• Experienced in community management, social media, or marketing (preferably in gaming or creative industries)

• Fluent in English and Japanese (written and spoken)

• Deep familiarity with Discord, Steam, Twitter/X, Reddit, and other gamer-centric platforms, especially in Japan.

• Strong writing skills with a fun, authentic, and adaptable voice

• Capacity to create content in full autonomy, including basic static graphic assets creation and video editing skills, as well as a familiarity with build capture or a willingness to learn

• Comfortable working in a small, fast-paced, collaborative team

• Passionate about indie games and player-first communication, with a strong knowledge of the Japanese entertainment culture (anime, pop culture, video games.)

Bonus Points For:

• Experience working on indie titles or crowdfunded projects

• Knowledge of community-building tools (e.g., Discord bots, analytics platforms)

• Experience in early-access, betas, or live service games

Japanese Visa Qualifications

•   A bachelor's degree or 10 years of experience.

How can we support you?

We want to set you up for success and make our recruitment process as accessible as possible for you.

In your application, feel free to let us know if you need anything to make your experience or environment more comfortable. We'll do our best to support you!

At Shapefarm we…

• Are humble
• Make sure the job gets done
• Take responsibility for our work and our actions
• Have the willingness to walk the extra mile to help others
• Have a positive attitude towards problem-solving