How to Apply to Asahi Group Holdings

About Asahi Group Holdings

Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (TYO: 2502) is one of the largest beverage companies in the world and Japan's biggest brewer by volume. Headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo, the group employs approximately 30,000 people globally and reported revenue of roughly 2.7 trillion yen in its most recent fiscal year. Atsushi Katsuki serves as President and CEO, leading a company whose identity is anchored by Asahi Super Dry — the karakuchi (dry) lager that redefined Japanese beer culture when it launched in 1987 and still accounts for a meaningful share of the domestic market. The group operates through four reportable segments: Japan, Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia, and it arrived at that shape through two transformative acquisitions. In 2016 and 2017, Asahi purchased a portfolio of premium European brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev's divestiture of former SABMiller assets, bringing Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Grolsch, Kozel, Tyskie, and Lech under one roof through what is now Asahi Europe & International (AEI), headquartered in Prague. In 2020, Asahi completed the roughly 16 billion Australian dollar acquisition of Carlton & United Breweries from AB InBev, adding Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Great Northern, and a commanding position in Australia and New Zealand through Asahi Beverages. Southeast Asia is smaller but strategically important, with operations centered on Malaysia and Indonesia. For candidates, the practical takeaway is that 'Asahi' is not one employer with one culture. The Tokyo holding company sets strategy, capital allocation, and global brand stewardship. The operating companies — Asahi Breweries in Japan, Asahi Europe & International in Prague (with country offices in the UK, Italy, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Germany), and Asahi Beverages in Melbourne — run their own hiring, their own applicant tracking systems, and their own cultural norms. A candidate applying to a brand manager role in Prague will have a completely different experience from someone applying to a supply chain role in Yatala, Queensland, or a 新卒 (shinsotsu, new graduate) role at Asahi Breweries in Tokyo. Understanding which Asahi you are applying to is the first and most important decision you will make. The product portfolio spans premium lagers (Asahi Super Dry, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Asahi Super Dry Double Fermentation launched in Europe in 2024, and locally dominant brands like Grolsch, Kozel, VB, and Carlton Draught), non-alcoholic beer (Asahi Dry Zero, Peroni Libera 0.0), RTDs (ready-to-drink), soft drinks (including Mitsuya Cider and Wilkinson Tanzan in Japan, Schweppes in Australia, and Cottee's), and specialty coffees and teas in certain markets. In 2024 Asahi announced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch to import Budweiser into Japan, a notable reversal that illustrates how the group is willing to move premium volume through its distribution network regardless of competitive politics. Sustainability targets include carbon neutrality across the value chain by 2050 and an interim 50 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, which has driven significant hiring in sustainability, packaging innovation, and brewing-process engineering.

Application Process

1
Step 1
Step 1 — Identify the correct operating company. Do not start at asahigroup-holdings.com unless you are aiming at group-level strategy, investor relations, global sustainability, or corporate functions that sit in Tokyo. For commercial, supply chain, brewing, marketing, and finance roles in the field, start at Asahi Breweries (Japan), Asahi Europe & International (Europe), or Asahi Beverages (Oceania). Each has its own careers site and its own ATS.
2
Step 2
Step 2 — For Japan roles, go to asahibeer.co.jp/careers. The mid-career (中途採用) portal routes through HRMOS at hrmos.co/pages/asahibeer. New graduate (新卒採用) hiring follows the standard Japanese university recruiting calendar and runs through MyNavi and Rikunabi postings, with the official timeline typically opening in March of the year before start and entrance ceremonies in April.
3
Step 3
Step 3 — For Europe and international roles, go to asahiinternational.com/career. The careers portal is powered by SAP SuccessFactors Career Site Builder, hosted at careersasahiinternational.jobs.hr.cloud.sap. The AEI careers site supports eight locales including Czech, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Dutch, Polish, and Romanian. You can register once and track all applications across countries under a single SuccessFactors candidate profile.
4
Step 4
Step 4 — For Australia and New Zealand roles, go to asahibeverages.com/careers/listings. The apply flow hands off to PageUp People (secure.dc2.pageuppeople.com, client 527). You can filter by category — sales and marketing, supply chain, manufacturing and operations, engineering, logistics and procurement, science and technology, finance, HR, IT, and corporate support — and by state (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, or New Zealand).
5
Step 5
Step 5 — Tailor your resume to the specific region and role. ATS parsing behavior differs between HRMOS, SAP SuccessFactors, and PageUp. SuccessFactors and PageUp both support LinkedIn Quick Apply pre-fill, which is useful but does not replace a clean, keyword-aligned resume. HRMOS expects a more traditional Japanese 職務経歴書 (shokumu keirekisho) style for mid-career roles.
6
Step 6
Step 6 — Submit and expect different timelines. Asahi Europe's published recruitment process is: application review, initial recruiter call, competency-based interview with hiring manager and TA, often a second-round panel with cross-functional colleagues, and for select roles a psychometric assessment. Asahi Beverages in Australia tends to move in three to four weeks from application to offer for mid-level commercial roles. Asahi Breweries Japan mid-career moves more slowly, often six to eight weeks, with multiple rounds and often a final interview with a senior director.
7
Step 7
Step 7 — Follow up appropriately. For European roles, the AEI talent acquisition team publishes named recruiter contacts on the careers site (including regional TA leads and a dedicated contact for Asahi Business Services in Krakow). A polite check-in two weeks after an interview is acceptable. In Japan, unsolicited follow-up is much less common and can occasionally backfire — trust the timeline your recruiter gives you.

Resume Tips for Asahi Group Holdings

recommended

For Japan mid-career applications, prepare a 職務経歴書 (shokumu keirekisho) in addit

For Japan mid-career applications, prepare a 職務経歴書 (shokumu keirekisho) in addition to a 履歴書 (rirekisho). The shokumu keirekisho is the document hiring managers actually read. Structure it reverse-chronologically with project-by-project descriptions, explicit scope (budget, team size, revenue impact), and the specific technologies or frameworks used. Expect two to four pages. For global roles based in Tokyo and conducted in English, a Western-style resume is acceptable, but a Japanese-language shokumu keirekisho will still strengthen your application.

recommended

For Asahi Europe & International roles, a clean one-to-two-page English CV is th

For Asahi Europe & International roles, a clean one-to-two-page English CV is the standard regardless of which country office you are applying to. European country preferences around photos on CVs vary (Germany and the Netherlands traditionally include them, the UK and Ireland do not), and since the AEI careers site hands off to a single SuccessFactors backend, default to no photo — it keeps the file clean through resume parsers and removes an unnecessary bias vector.

recommended

For Asahi Beverages in Australia, resumes are typically two to three pages for m

For Asahi Beverages in Australia, resumes are typically two to three pages for mid-career candidates and one to two pages for new graduates. Use Australian English (organisation, specialise, colour), quantify achievements in AUD, and lead with commercial impact. The Asahi Beverages employer brand emphasises authenticity and 'BYO self to work' — bland corporate resumes will underperform against candidates who show personality in a professional register.

recommended

Align vocabulary to Asahi's segment

Align vocabulary to Asahi's segment. If you are applying to a brand role on Peroni or Pilsner Urquell, reference premium positioning, on-premise activation, prestige distribution, and global brand stewardship. For Super Dry in Japan, reference karakuchi heritage, domestic market leadership, and Double Fermentation innovation. For VB and Carlton Draught in Australia, reference mass-market brand equity, pub and bottle-shop channel depth, and sporting sponsorship platforms.

recommended

Include ATS-friendly keywords for the specific role

Include ATS-friendly keywords for the specific role. Brand marketing roles should include 'brand equity', 'brand health tracking', 'integrated marketing communications', 'Nielsen/Circana', 'shopper marketing', 'trade marketing', and 'ATL/BTL'. Sales roles should include 'on-premise', 'off-premise', 'distributor management', and 'key account management'. Supply chain roles should include 'S&OP', 'demand planning', 'SAP' (Asahi is heavily SAP), and 'end-to-end supply chain'. R&D brewing roles should include specific yeast and hop knowledge, sensory panel experience, and QA/QC terminology.

recommended

Use standard resume formatting — single-column, Arial or Calibri 10-11pt, dark t

Use standard resume formatting — single-column, Arial or Calibri 10-11pt, dark text on white, no text boxes, no headers or footers with critical information, no tables for layout. SAP SuccessFactors and PageUp both parse single-column PDFs reliably. Multi-column creative layouts frequently lose structure during parsing, which can bury your best qualifications below hiring-manager screening thresholds.

recommended

For roles that involve alcohol marketing or commercial work, demonstrate awarene

For roles that involve alcohol marketing or commercial work, demonstrate awareness of responsible-drinking frameworks and regional regulations (DrinkWise Australia, European self-regulatory codes, Japan's voluntary advertising code). Asahi takes responsibility seriously as a matter of corporate identity; candidates who demonstrate that awareness without being preachy stand out.

recommended

If you have brewing, fermentation, or food science credentials, foreground them

If you have brewing, fermentation, or food science credentials, foreground them. Even in commercial and corporate roles, Asahi values candidates who understand the product at a technical level. A certified Cicerone, a wine or sake sommelier credential, a BJCP judge certification, or a university minor in food science signals genuine interest in beverage as a craft rather than as a generic CPG category.

ATS System: Regional — HRMOS (Japan), SAP SuccessFactors (Europe), PageUp People (Oceania)

Asahi Group Holdings does not run a single unified ATS. Each major operating company runs its own system, and the choice reflects both history (acquired entities kept their legacy stacks) and regional hiring norms. Japan's Asahi Breweries uses HRMOS (hrmos.co/pages/asahibeer), a popular Japanese cloud ATS from BizReach suited to the Japanese-language shokumu keirekisho workflow. Asahi Europe & International uses SAP SuccessFactors Career Site Builder (careersasahiinternational.jobs.hr.cloud.sap/AEI), a standard enterprise ATS that supports LinkedIn Quick Apply, eight languages across Central and Eastern Europe, and a unified candidate profile. Asahi Beverages in Australia and New Zealand uses PageUp People (secure.dc2.pageuppeople.com, client 527), an Australian-origin ATS used widely across large Australian employers, which supports local nuances like superannuation fields and Australian work-rights verification. Group Holdings corporate roles in Tokyo typically route through the Asahi Breweries HRMOS portal for mid-career or through graduate recruiting platforms for new graduates.

When applying to Asahi Europe, register a single SuccessFactors candidate profile and use LinkedIn Quick Apply to reduce parsing errors. A clean SuccessFactors profile with complete education, work history, and language sections will be used automatically across subsequent applications.
PageUp (AU) is strict about required fields and work-rights questions. Answer honestly about Australian citizenship, permanent residency, or visa status — misstatements are grounds for withdrawal later in the process. If you are on a 482 visa or applying from overseas, say so.
HRMOS (Japan) expects Japanese-language content for Japan-based mid-career roles. English-only applications for Japan-based roles typically require evidence of role-appropriate Japanese proficiency (JLPT N2 or N1 for most non-engineering roles) unless the posting explicitly says otherwise.
All three systems parse single-column PDFs best. Avoid Word .docx for final submission because rendering variations can break parsing. If a posting explicitly requests Word, follow it — but for choose-your-own-format fields, PDF is safer.
Use the regional portal that matches the job location, not the group holding company page. Applying through the wrong ATS will frequently route your resume to a regional TA team that cannot act on it, which can cost two to three weeks of turnaround time.

Interview Culture

Asahi interview culture is one of the clearest places the group's multi-regional character shows up.

At the Tokyo holding company and at Asahi Breweries, interviews follow standard Japanese corporate norms: formal business attire (dark suit, white shirt, conservative tie or blouse), arrival 10 to 15 minutes early, careful bowing on entry and exit, and a respectful Japanese-language conversation structured around your 職務経歴 (job history) and 志望動機 (reason for applying). New graduate hiring (新卒採用) is particularly ritualized, with group interviews, aptitude testing (SPI is common), self-PR essays, and multiple rounds culminating in a final interview with a senior executive. For mid-career roles, expect two to four rounds: an initial HR screen, a hiring-manager competency interview, a panel with cross-functional stakeholders, and a final leadership interview. Candidates should be prepared to discuss specific accomplishments with concrete numbers, but also to speak to long-term career orientation and fit with corporate values — Japanese firms still weigh cultural fit heavily, and Asahi is no exception. Asahi Europe & International conducts interviews in a more Western style. The AEI-published process is application review, initial recruiter call, competency-based interview with the hiring manager and a TA partner, a second-round panel for many roles, and for certain positions a psychometric assessment. Competency interviews follow a STAR or CAR structure — situation, task, action, result — and expect candidates to articulate behavioural evidence for leadership, commercial acumen, collaboration, and resilience. Dress code varies by country and function: business formal for senior commercial roles in Italy or Germany, business casual for most marketing and corporate roles in the Netherlands, UK, and Czech Republic. Prague (AEI headquarters) has a particularly international feel, with English as the working language across most functions. Asahi Beverages in Australia runs perhaps the most relaxed interview process among the three regions, in keeping with Australian workplace norms generally. Expect a phone screen with a recruiter, a competency-based interview with the hiring manager, and often a final-round panel with one or two cross-functional stakeholders. Dress for Melbourne head office roles is smart casual for most commercial functions and more formal for executive interviews. Australian interviewers value authenticity and a direct, confident but not arrogant communication style. Jokes are permitted and often welcomed, though self-deprecation lands better than self-aggrandisement. Discussions about work-life balance, flexibility, and family commitments are normal and not penalised. For roles based at a brewery (Yatala in Queensland, Laverton in Victoria, or Auckland in New Zealand), expect part of the interview to be a walking tour of the site, during which you will be assessed informally on your engagement with operators and technicians — Asahi takes the craft of brewing seriously, and showing curiosity about the production floor is a net positive regardless of the role you are interviewing for. Across all regions, questions about the product matter. Candidates who have tried Asahi Super Dry, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, and Grolsch — and can articulate what each brand stands for and how it differs from its local competitors — will consistently outperform candidates who show up with generic CPG experience and no opinion on the category. For non-drinkers, Asahi has meaningfully expanded its non-alcoholic portfolio (Asahi Dry Zero, Peroni Libera 0.0), and a thoughtful answer grounded in the non-alcoholic range is equally welcomed.

What Asahi Group Holdings Looks For

Genuine interest in the beverage category. Asahi hires many people with prior experience at Anheuser-Busch InBev, Heineken, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Suntory, and Kirin, and it also hires from adjacent CPG (Nestle, Unilever, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola), but across all paths candidates who can talk credibly about brands, occasions, channels, and craft consistently outperform.
Commercial discipline with a premium mindset. The group's core strategy is premiumisation — moving volume from mainstream to super-premium and prestige tiers globally. Candidates who understand pricing architecture, channel strategy, and how premium brands are built and defended are well positioned for brand, sales, and strategy roles.
Operational craft. Asahi was built on brewing excellence, and the organisation respects people who understand how product actually gets made. For supply chain, manufacturing, engineering, and R&D candidates this is foundational. For commercial candidates, even a basic fluency in the brewing process and packaging constraints is a differentiator.
Multi-regional adaptability. Because the group operates across Japan, Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia with distinct cultures, candidates who can demonstrate genuine cross-cultural competence — not just international travel, but meaningful work across different operating models — stand out for senior roles and international mobility programs.
Long-term orientation. Japanese corporate culture still places meaningful weight on tenure and loyalty, and while this is less pronounced at AEI and Asahi Beverages, it remains a group-wide cultural undercurrent. Candidates with stable employment histories and evidence of growth within roles will generally edge out higher-turnover profiles with similar skills.
Responsible corporate citizenship. Asahi's sustainability and responsible drinking commitments are substantive, not cosmetic. Candidates who engage with these topics thoughtfully, especially for marketing and corporate roles, demonstrate the kind of values alignment Asahi looks for.
Language capability where the role demands it. Japanese proficiency (JLPT N1 or N2) is typically required for Japan-based non-engineering roles. English is the working language at AEI and Asahi Beverages, and a second European language (Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Italian, German, Dutch) is strongly preferred for country-specific roles at AEI.
Evidence of measurable impact. Across all three regions, behavioural interviews reward candidates who can quantify: share-point gains, revenue growth, cost-out, time-to-market reductions, engagement-score movements, safety-incident reductions, and on-shelf-availability improvements. Vague narratives about 'driving success' do not survive a competency interview.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which company do I actually apply to — Asahi Group Holdings, Asahi Breweries, Asahi Europe & International, or Asahi Beverages?

You apply to the operating company that hires for the role, not to the Tokyo holding company. Asahi Group Holdings at asahigroup-holdings.com is the listed parent that holds capital, sets group strategy, and runs corporate functions like investor relations, global sustainability, and group audit — most corporate employees there transferred in from one of the operating subsidiaries. For a role in Japan (breweries, commercial, marketing Japan, supply chain Japan), apply through Asahi Breweries at asahibeer.co.jp/careers, which routes mid-career hiring through HRMOS. For a role in Europe, apply through Asahi Europe & International at asahiinternational.com/career, which runs on SAP SuccessFactors. For a role in Australia or New Zealand, apply through Asahi Beverages at asahibeverages.com/careers, which runs on PageUp People.

Do I need to speak Japanese to work at Asahi's Tokyo headquarters?

For most roles, yes. Asahi Group Holdings and Asahi Breweries operate primarily in Japanese, and most non-engineering roles require JLPT N2 at minimum, with N1 preferred for marketing, sales, commercial strategy, and corporate roles. There are exceptions — some global strategy, investor relations, international M&A, and technical engineering roles do run in English — but these are a minority of Tokyo-based postings. If Japanese language is a hard requirement, the posting will typically say so; if it does not say, assume Japanese is expected. English-speaking candidates interested in the group have better odds of landing at Asahi Europe & International in Prague or Asahi Beverages in Melbourne, both of which operate in English.

How competitive is Asahi's new graduate (新卒) program in Japan?

Very competitive. Asahi Breweries is one of the most recognised employer brands in Japan, and the new graduate program attracts thousands of applicants annually for a relatively small intake. The process follows the standard Japanese university recruiting calendar, including entry sheets, SPI aptitude testing, group discussions, multiple rounds of individual interviews, and a final interview with a senior director. Candidates should expect to commit significant time during their third and fourth years of university. Students from top national universities and prominent private universities are disproportionately represented in the hiring cohort, but Asahi does hire from a broader pool than most assume, and candidates who demonstrate genuine category passion and strong communication skills can compete.

What does the interview process look like at Asahi Europe & International?

AEI's published recruitment process has four stages. First, you apply through the SuccessFactors careers portal and the TA team reviews your CV. Second, if there is a potential fit, a recruiter schedules an initial call to cover motivation, experience, and logistics. Third, you go into a competency-based interview with the hiring manager and a TA partner, structured around behavioural evidence for the role's competencies; a second-round panel interview with cross-functional colleagues follows for most roles. Fourth, some roles include a psychometric test, typically after the second interview. For successful candidates, an offer and onboarding close the process. The published recruiter contacts for AEI TA include Iuliana Nastasoiu for general roles and a dedicated team for Asahi Business Services (ABS) roles based in Krakow.

What is Asahi Beverages like to work at in Australia?

Asahi Beverages is the Oceania platform built from the 2020 acquisition of Carlton & United Breweries from AB InBev, combined with Asahi's existing soft-drinks business (Schweppes Australia). It operates major breweries at Yatala in Queensland, Laverton in Victoria, and Auckland in New Zealand, plus regional distribution sites. Employer branding emphasises authenticity, diversity, a 'BYO self to work' ethos, and celebration of individual voice. The graduate program is highly regarded within Australian FMCG and places young commercial talent across sales, supply chain, and corporate functions. Day-to-day culture is characteristically Australian — direct, pragmatic, informal, with genuine commitments to flexible work and work-life balance. Compensation and benefits are competitive within Australian FMCG, and the company offers product allowances, brewery tours, and career-mobility pathways across the Asahi global network.

Is Asahi a good company for career development in brand management?

For premium beer and adjacent beverages, Asahi is one of the stronger platforms globally. The Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell portfolios at AEI are built on genuine premium brand equity and supported by serious global marketing investment, making them attractive for brand managers who want to build prestige positioning. The Asahi Super Dry global expansion — including the Double Fermentation launch in Europe in 2024 — has created additional marketing roles focused on exporting a Japanese premium lager into Western markets. In Australia, VB and Carlton Draught are mass-market brands with huge cultural resonance and sophisticated sponsorship and channel programs. The limitation is that Asahi is not as strong as some competitors in spirits, wine, or hard seltzers, so if your long-term brand ambitions are outside beer and soft drinks, a diversified beverage alcohol company like Diageo or Pernod Ricard might fit better. Inside the beer category, Asahi is a top-tier employer.

What is the salary range at Asahi Group Holdings and its operating companies?

Compensation varies substantially by region. In Japan, Asahi Breweries follows typical Japanese large-cap compensation structures — stable base salary with tenure progression, a twice-yearly bonus tied to company performance (often two to five months of base combined annually), generous allowances (housing, family, transit), and robust retirement benefits. Total cash compensation for early-career roles is competitive with other Japanese blue chips but below top-tier foreign firms in Tokyo. At Asahi Europe & International, compensation is competitive within Central European and Western European FMCG benchmarks and includes country-specific benefits (meal vouchers in Czech Republic, 13th-month pay in Italy, etc.). At Asahi Beverages in Australia, compensation includes base salary, a performance-linked bonus (typically 10-25 percent of base for mid-career commercial roles), superannuation, and product allowances; levels are benchmarked against other Australian FMCG employers and are competitive. Specific numbers are not publicly disclosed, but Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, and levels.fyi compensation ranges for specific roles are directionally useful.

How does the Budweiser partnership affect hiring?

In 2024, Asahi Group Holdings announced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev to import and distribute Budweiser in Japan. This is mostly a commercial and supply chain arrangement, not a transformational restructuring, and it has not led to major hiring shifts. The partnership may create incremental roles in the Japan commercial organisation focused on imported premium brand management and on on-premise activation, but the bulk of Asahi's hiring remains driven by organic growth, the ongoing global Super Dry expansion, premiumisation programs across AEI's European portfolio, and operational roles at breweries and distribution sites. The partnership is noteworthy as a signal of Asahi's openness to pragmatic commercial collaborations even with direct competitors, which is consistent with the group's long-term premiumisation strategy.

How to Apply to Asahi Group Holdings

Key Takeaways

About Asahi Group Holdings

Application Process

Resume Tips for Asahi Group Holdings

For Japan mid-career applications, prepare a 職務経歴書 (shokumu keirekisho) in addit

For Asahi Europe & International roles, a clean one-to-two-page English CV is th

For Asahi Beverages in Australia, resumes are typically two to three pages for m

Align vocabulary to Asahi's segment

Include ATS-friendly keywords for the specific role

Use standard resume formatting — single-column, Arial or Calibri 10-11pt, dark t

For roles that involve alcohol marketing or commercial work, demonstrate awarene

If you have brewing, fermentation, or food science credentials, foreground them

ATS System: Regional — HRMOS (Japan), SAP SuccessFactors (Europe), PageUp People (Oceania)

Interview Culture

What Asahi Group Holdings Looks For

Frequently Asked Questions

Open Positions

Related Resources

Similar Companies

Related Articles

Sources