Service Director

Reports To: Head of APAC Service & Strategy

Position Summary

The Director of Technical Service – Japan serves as the executive leader responsible for defining and executing ASP’s overall service strategy across the Japanese market. Operating at the intersection of commercial growth, operational execution, and customer success, this role owns the Japan Service P&L and leads the transformation of ASP’s service business from traditional field support into a high-margin, value-based commercial growth engine.

As a key member of the regional leadership team, you will oversee field service operations, technical support, service engineering, and spare parts supply chain logistics. You will establish robust governance with distributor and service channel partners, lead cross-functional alignment with commercial, regulatory, and marketing teams, and act as an uncompromising change agent dedicated to driving operational excellence, elevated Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and a strong culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Business Transformation

• Develop and execute Japan’s multi-year service strategy in direct alignment with APAC regional priorities and commercial business goals.

• Serve as a resolute change agent, driving culture, process, and technology transformations across the service organization.

• Lead long-term planning, workforce shaping, and service platform modernization to support evolving hospital, ambulatory surgery center (ASC), and health system needs.

• Service P&L & Commercial Growth

• Own end-to-end P&L accountability for Japan Service, driving revenue growth, cost optimization, and margin expansion.

• Implement value-based pricing models and tiered Service Level Agreements (SLAs), transitioning service contracts into a proactive, recurring revenue driver.

• Collaborate with Commercial Leadership to attach service contracts to capital equipment sales and grow service penetration rates across the installed base.

• Operational Excellence & Service Delivery

• Direct daily execution across Field Service, Technical Support / Escalation Engineering, and Spare Parts Supply Chain Logistics.

• Establish and monitor core operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including Equipment Uptime, First-Time Fix Rate (FTFR), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and SLA compliance.

• Optimize local spare parts inventory levels and distribution networks to balance holding costs with rapid turn-around times.

• Partner & Channel Governance

• Lead governance frameworks for third-party service channel partners, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and local sales distributors.

• Enforce rigorous quality standards, service level compliance, and joint business plans across external partner networks.

• Customer Centricity & Voice of Customer (VoC)

• Champion customer engagement programs to elevate customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and Net Promoter Scores (NPS).

• Establish rapid closed-loop response protocols for customer feedback and escalation cases across healthcare facilities.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Regulatory Compliance

• Partner closely with Commercial, Marketing, Regulatory Affairs, and Quality Assurance teams to support new product launches, product lifecycle management (PLM), and post-market surveillance.

• Ensure strict adherence to Japan’s PMDA/MHLW regulatory standards, ASP Quality Management Systems (QMS), environmental health and safety (EHS) guidelines, and global compliance mandates.

• Team Leadership, Talent Pipeline & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and build a high-performing team of managers, field engineers, and technical support staff.

• Create robust succession planning frameworks and technical training curricula for critical service roles.

• Foster an organizational culture anchored in safety, quality, accountability, inclusion, and continuous process improvement (Lean / Six Sigma).

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or a related technical/scientific discipline is preferred.

• Language Proficiency: Native fluency in Japanese and professional business fluency in English (written and verbal) are required for cross-regional executive communication.

• Industry Focus: Proven leadership track record within Medical Devices, Infection Prevention, Capital Equipment, or Healthcare Technology sectors in Japan.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Certifications

• Technical & Business Acumen

• Deep structural understanding of the Japanese healthcare ecosystem, hospital purchasing behaviors, and regulatory environments.

• Demonstrated P&L management experience with strong commercial acumen in service pricing, margin optimization, and financial forecasting.

• Expertise in managing field service management platforms, ERP (e.g., SAP), and CRM (e.g., Salesforce / ServiceMax) tools.

• Leadership & Execution

• Proven ability to act as a resolute change agent, leading large-scale cultural and operational transformations in established corporate environments.

• Outstanding cross-functional influence skills—able to navigate matrixed global organizations and align localized strategy with regional imperatives.

• Customer-obsessed leadership style with a track record of improving NPS and CSAT scores in high-stakes healthcare settings.

Desirable Certifications

• Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or Black Belt) certification.

• Certified Business Process Professional (CBPP) or PMP (Project Management Professional) is a plus.

Years of Related Experience

• Total Professional Experience: Minimum of 12 to 15+ years of progressive operational and commercial experience within medical device, high-tech capital equipment, or industrial automation sectors.

• Leadership Experience: Minimum of 7+ years in senior management/executive roles directly leading direct teams, managing external service channels, and holding P&L responsibility.

• Market Experience: Minimum of 5+ years operating directly within the Japan medical device market.