Finance Manager, Japan

At Koala, we create beautiful, flexible, and sustainable products for the changing needs of modern life, driven by bold ideas, global collaboration, and a mission to change the industry for good. Ready for meaningful work with good humans? Join us as a Joey in the Koala Treehouse.

At Koala we believe that designing better habitats leads to better lives – for our people, our planet, and the communities we’re part of. For a decade we have been perfecting our approach to furniture design; creating beautiful, flexible, innovative and sustainable products that solve the needs of real people.

Why we have this role @ Koala

With rapid growth in Japan, we’re strengthening our finance function with a hands-on and technically strong Finance Manager.  Reporting to the Group Finance Manager, this role goes beyond standard reporting — you’ll play a multi-functional role, ensuring accuracy in financial reporting while driving improvements in processes, compliance, and business performance.

This is a high-impact position where you’ll be trusted to run the numbers for the Japan market, partner with global teams, and ensure our business is set up to scale successfully.

What key responsibilities does this role have @ Koala?

Month-End & Reporting

Take ownership of the month-end close process, delivering timely and accurate financial results, including reconciliations and preparation of Balance Sheet and P&L

Reconcile multiple payment gateways across e-commerce sales channels, ensuring accuracy and timeliness in reporting

Tax & Compliance

Work with third-party advisors to manage statutory tax compliance, including consumption tax, income tax, and asset tax

Strengthen governance, controls, and compliance frameworks across the Japan entity

Business Partnering

Act as a key collaborator with the global finance team, ensuring alignment, transparency, and effective cross-border communication

Contribute to budgeting and forecasting processes, ensuring robust analysis and local insights

Business & Process Improvement

Apply curiosity and critical thinking to challenge the status quo and deliver practical improvements

Champion process governance and leverage data, systems, and emerging tools like AI to streamline workflows, enhance accuracy, and provide deeper business insight

Play a key role in evolving the finance function as the business scales

Ideal background...

Bilingual Japanese & English skills (business level) a must

5+ years’ experience in financial accounting, with deep knowledge of general ledger, month-end / year-end close, tax compliance and audit

Previous experience in a manufacturing, eCommerce or retail industry

Professional qualification in accounting or finance such as CPA

Strong technical accounting knowledge, paired with the ability to think critically and apply it in a commercial context

Proven ability to work autonomously while maintaining strong governance and attention to detail

Excellent communication and influencing skills — able to work across both finance and non-finance stakeholders

Demonstrated curiosity in exploring new approaches, including how AI and modern systems can improve efficiency and insight

Successful track record of managing tight deadlines under pressure

Experience with NetSuite or other ERP systems is an advantage

Why join us?

Be part of a fast-scaling international e-commerce start-up with a growing footprint in Japan

High visibility : work directly with country leadership, Group Finance, and global HQ

Opportunity to shape finance operations in Japan from the ground up

Competitive package, plus genuine career growth opportunities

Join a collaborative, curious, and impact-driven team where your work will shape the future of Koala’s growth in Japan.

Treehouse Perks and Privileges…

Koala is only as good as its employees are happy - and we’re one happy international bilingual bunch! We offer our teams hybrid working options and the freedom and autonomy to do their best work in a way that works for them! Whether that’s working your own version of 9-6, working from home in your pajamas from time to time or hanging out at our Treehouse (this is what we call our office digs) in Omotesando, or enjoying the 20+ days annual leave (+generous time off for volunteer, parental, Koala life leave and more) you decide whatever helps you find your flow! The Treehouse has plenty of social activities to get involved with, including Thursday lunches, and help you get to know your fellow Koalas better as well as free Koala products for all employees - who better to shout from the tree tops how awesome our products are, right?! We also recognise that we can’t grow as a brand unless we support the growth of our teams so this is a strong focus for us via our Learning Management platform Juno, as well as individual and team growth budgets and dedicated days. Lastly and importantly our employee experience respects and embraces all families, formed, found and evolving. You’ll have access to our Employee Assistance Program, which includes unlimited sessions for financial, work, relationship, family or wellbeing support. We believe that simply doing ‘no harm’ isn’t good enough. So, how are we doing our part? BCorp Certified, WWF Partnership, volunteer days, a member of SoftLanding , 1% and so much more.

All in all, the Koala Kommunity is a great place to hang out and belong to!

Koalities we look for…

At Koala, we do things a little differently and we don’t shy away from the fact that we expect a lot from our employees! We want you to challenge expectations, always look to make a difference and give us something different from the norm. We want people that bring great energy, that have a long-game focus and are always curious to find new angles and approaches to the way we work. We're a team full of entrepreneurial spirit and have a relentless focus on 'what's next' but while always reviewing 'what's been done' and learning, growing and adapting. We're confident, but NEVER arrogant and we adapt to change uber quickly. Honesty and selflessness drive everything we do, as well as a total focus on exceeding our customers’ expectations. So if you feel like this could be you... well what are you waiting for? Drop us a line, and let's see what you've got! ;)

There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate, Koala is a place where everyone has opportunity. So however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day. We’re an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that a diverse workforce is crucial to our success as a business.

To read more, check out our careers , LinkedIn , or the great work we do with Work180 .