Grant Habgood has built enterprise technology teams in Japan since 2006. That work runs from first hires for vendors entering the market to specialist teams at established global companies.
In figures
- Grant has worked in Japan's technology recruitment market since 2006.
- He built and led a recruitment business of more than 70 consultants, with full P&L responsibility.
- He has personally delivered over ¥300 million in placement revenue.
Recent searches
Shinka Talent's current and recent work is with foreign enterprise technology vendors building or growing their Japan teams.
- An AI agent security vendor entering Japan is working with us on a sales engineer search.
- A database and data platform company is working with us on a partner specialist search.
- An AI and machine learning platform vendor is hiring a channel sales manager and a lead account executive through us.
- Two low-code application platform vendors are hiring through us: one for a head of channel sales, regional sales managers and solution architects, and the other for a client director.
Earlier team builds
Earlier in his career, Grant built Japan teams for vendors at or near market entry. When Sprinklr set up in Japan, he ran the team build as a retained search programme, managing the project with his team and making placements himself across customer service leadership and solutions consulting. He also placed early hires for SolidFire and Darktrace as they launched in Japan, and for NetSuite while its Japan team was still small.
Alongside that work, he placed specialist and technical-commercial hires at established vendors, including Apple, SAP, VMware, EMC, Akamai and CyberArk.
Grant then spent several years leading recruitment businesses, before returning to hands-on search with Shinka Talent.
What clients and candidates say
Clients
“Grant helped us build most of our iOS software team... He could introduce very qualified candidates with not only the appropriate background and skills, but most importantly the right culture fit.”
- Former hiring manager, Apple Japan
“He provided us with multiple options to consider for both of the positions and delivered in a timely manner... He understands the market well in terms of the competitor landscape and the nuances of hiring in Japan.”
- Hiring manager, Imation Japan
“He is clear on what he can deliver and achieves goals on budget in a timely manner. Most recently he helped me and my colleagues fill a key technical position where many other firms could not.”
- Technology executive, Tokyo
Candidates
“Grant provides devoted support, by actively communicating with companies and, in some cases, providing specific advice to candidates.”
- Country Manager, Japan
“Honest, humble, advanced Japanese speaker with deep industry knowledge, especially of the latest Cloud and SaaS trends.”
- Solutions Architect, enterprise SaaS, Japan
“He follows with the company and provides an update whatever happens, or even if nothing happens.”
- CTO, Japan
“Grant actually researched my profile and contacted me with an offer tailored to my needs... He even visited me in hospital so that I could sign my new contract.”
- Technical Lead, global technology company
“He never pushes you to positions you are not willing to apply for for the sake of his deals.”
- Solutions Architect, Japan