How to Apply to JERA

Key Takeaways

JERA is the world's largest LNG buyer at roughly 35 to 40 million tonnes per year and one of the largest thermal power operators globally, with about 5,500 employees and revenue in the multi-trillion yen range.
The company hires through three distinct tracks: new graduates (shinsotsu), mid-career (chuto saiyo), and a global / specialist lane. Mid-career postings are managed on HRMOS at https://hrmos.co/pages/jera/jobs.
Japanese-language ability is the single biggest differentiator for domestic roles. Global-track and overseas-office roles accept and sometimes require English, but headquarters interviews are mostly in Japanese.
The interview process is formal, multi-round, and probes long-term commitment as hard as it probes technical skill. Expect three to four rounds plus document screening, running over four to eight weeks.
JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 is the strategic frame everything connects to. Familiarity with ammonia co-firing (Hekinan), hydrogen, offshore wind (JERA Nex / Parkwind), and US offshore investments through JERA Americas helps in every interview.
Resumes should follow Japanese conventions for domestic applications: rirekisho plus shokumu keirekisho, conservative formatting, quantified outcomes, and named counterparties and standards. Save creative layouts for industries that reward them; JERA does not.
Pace expectations. Energy-industry hiring in Japan moves at energy-industry speed: deliberate, document-heavy, and risk-averse. Plan for weeks between stages, not days.

About JERA

JERA Co., Inc. (株式会社JERA) is a Japanese power generation and energy supply company headquartered in the Otemachi business district of Chiyoda, Tokyo. Formed in 2015 as a 50/50 joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) and Chubu Electric Power, JERA was created by carving out and consolidating the fuel procurement, fuel transportation, fuel trading, and thermal power generation businesses of its two parent utilities. The result is a single integrated energy company that operates roughly 80 gigawatts of thermal generation capacity worldwide and procures, ships, and trades fossil fuels at a scale that places it at the very top of global energy markets. JERA's most quoted distinction is its position as the world's largest single buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), purchasing on the order of 35 to 40 million tonnes per year. That volume gives JERA an outsized voice in global LNG pricing, long-term offtake contracts, and shipping markets, and it is one of the reasons the company maintains trading and investment offices well beyond Japan. JERA's revenue runs in the multi-trillion yen range (recent fiscal years have come in around ¥6 trillion), and the staff base across the JERA Group is approximately 5,500 employees, the bulk of whom sit in Tokyo, at thermal power stations along the Pacific coast of Japan, and at international offices. The company is led by President and CEO Hisahide Okuda, who took the top role following a generational handover from Yukio Kani, the long-serving CEO and Global Chairman who shaped JERA's international expansion and decarbonization strategy. Under this leadership, JERA has reorganized around three pillars: a domestic business that runs Japan's thermal fleet and contributes to grid stability after the post-Fukushima nuclear pull-back; a renewables business that includes onshore and offshore wind, solar, and battery storage in Japan and abroad; and an LNG and upstream business that secures fuel for both JERA and external customers. International operations are run primarily through JERA Americas (with offshore wind investments and gas-fired assets in the United States), JERA Asia (with positions in Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and other markets), JERA Nex (the renewables platform built around the Parkwind acquisition), and a growing footprint in India, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The single most important strategic frame at JERA is the JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 plan, which commits the company to net-zero CO2 emissions from its domestic and overseas operations by 2050. Because JERA cannot simply walk away from thermal generation without destabilizing the Japanese grid, the strategy leans heavily on co-firing existing coal and gas plants with hydrogen and ammonia, and eventually on full conversion to zero-carbon fuels. The flagship demonstration of this approach is the 20 percent ammonia co-firing trial at Unit 4 of the Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi Prefecture, one of the world's first commercial-scale ammonia co-firing tests at a coal-fired plant. JERA is also building out an ammonia and hydrogen value chain that touches production partners in the Middle East, Australia, and North America, shipping infrastructure, and receiving terminals in Japan. For a candidate, the practical takeaway is that JERA is a hybrid organization: it has the scale, formality, and conservatism of a traditional Japanese utility, and at the same time it is trying to behave like a global energy major. Engineering, plant operations, and corporate functions inside Japan still feel very much like a Japanese keiretsu-style employer. Trading desks, international project finance, offshore wind development, and ammonia value chain teams operate closer to the rhythm of an international energy company, with English used heavily and a meaningful share of staff who have spent careers at majors, IPPs, or trading houses. The challenge and the opportunity for applicants is matching their profile to the right side of that hybrid.

Application Process

1
Identify the right track
Identify the right track. JERA hires through three distinct lanes: shinsotsu (新卒, fresh graduates from Japanese universities), chuto saiyo (中途採用, mid-career experienced hires), and a global / specialist track for bilingual candidates and overseas hires. Each lane has a different entry point on the recruit site, and applying through the wrong door is the single most common reason applications stall.
2
Start at the official recruit portal
Start at the official recruit portal. The canonical English landing page is https://www.jera.co.jp/en/recruit/ and the Japanese equivalent is https://www.jera.co.jp/recruit/. Both pages link out to the live job board hosted on HRMOS at https://hrmos.co/pages/jera/jobs, which is the system of record for open mid-career positions. New graduate recruiting flows through a separate Japanese career-site funnel timed to the Japanese academic calendar.
3
Browse and shortlist roles on HRMOS
Browse and shortlist roles on HRMOS. The HRMOS job list shows postings in Japanese by default; switch the language toggle if available, but expect that the majority of role descriptions, application forms, and screening communications will be in Japanese. Read each posting carefully for the work location (Tokyo HQ, regional power station, or overseas), required Japanese language level, and whether the role is on the JERA Co., Inc. payroll or a group company.
4
Create an HRMOS candidate profile
Create an HRMOS candidate profile. HRMOS (operated by BizReach) requires a free account to apply. You will upload a Japanese resume (rirekisho, 履歴書) and a Japanese career history document (shokumu keirekisho, 職務経歴書) for almost every chuto saiyo role. For global-track roles, an English CV is usually accepted and sometimes required in addition to the Japanese documents.
5
Submit a tailored application
Submit a tailored application. JERA's recruiters look for an explicit fit narrative, not a generic resume drop. Use the HRMOS free-text fields and any motivation statement (志望動機) to connect your specific experience to the posting's named responsibilities and to the JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 strategy where it is genuinely relevant.
6
Document screening (書類選考)
Document screening (書類選考). Expect a one to three week review window. JERA typically uses an in-house recruiter plus the hiring manager for this stage. Decisions are conservative: ambiguity in your career history, gaps that are not explained, or a mismatch between your stated job grade and your real responsibilities will usually lead to a polite decline.
7
First interview
First interview. Mid-career interviews almost always start with a hiring manager and an HR business partner. For domestic roles this is conducted in Japanese and runs about 60 minutes. Expect a structured walk-through of your career history in chronological order, followed by detailed questions on one or two recent projects.
8
Second and third interviews
Second and third interviews. Subsequent rounds bring in department leadership, cross-functional stakeholders (for example, fuel procurement candidates will meet trading, risk, and operations), and often a senior officer. For specialist tracks such as LNG trading, offshore wind, or ammonia value chain, expect a technical deep dive with people who will press hard on numbers, contracts, and assumptions.
9
Final interview with executive leadership
Final interview with executive leadership. The last round is typically with a division head or an executive officer. This stage is as much about cultural fit and long-term commitment as it is about skills. Be prepared to discuss why JERA specifically, why now, and how you see yourself contributing over a five to ten year horizon.
10
Offer, reference checks, and onboarding
Offer, reference checks, and onboarding. Offers come with a detailed compensation breakdown including base salary, role-based allowances, bonus structure, and relocation support where applicable. Reference checks are increasingly common for mid-career and global hires. Standard onboarding for domestic hires happens on the first of the month following acceptance; for overseas hires, visa sponsorship and relocation can extend the start date by two to four months.

Resume Tips for JERA

recommended

Submit both formats when applying domestically

Submit both formats when applying domestically. For chuto saiyo positions, prepare a Japanese rirekisho with a recent ID photograph, an academic history including high school, and a clean employment chronology, plus a shokumu keirekisho that runs three to six pages and describes each role in detail. Skipping the rirekisho or submitting only an English CV is the most common reason applications get filtered out before a recruiter even reads them.

recommended

Lead the shokumu keirekisho with a 150 to 250 word professional summary that nam

Lead the shokumu keirekisho with a 150 to 250 word professional summary that names the energy sub-sectors you have worked in, the scale of assets or transactions you have handled, and the specific function (engineering, procurement, trading, project finance, corporate planning) you are targeting at JERA.

recommended

Quantify everything in units the energy industry recognizes

Quantify everything in units the energy industry recognizes. Use MW, GW, TWh, mtpa for LNG, USD per MMBtu for gas pricing, capacity factor percentages, EAF and EFOR for plant reliability, and tCO2e for emissions. A line that says 'managed a 1.2 GW combined-cycle gas turbine fleet with 92 percent availability' lands much harder than 'managed a power plant.'

recommended

Name the standards, codes, and counterparties you have worked with

Name the standards, codes, and counterparties you have worked with. For engineers: ASME, API, IEC, JIS, NFPA, and the specific OEMs (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, Toshiba, Hitachi). For commercial roles: ISDA, GIIGNL, the major LNG offtakers and producers, and the specific terminals or trading hubs you have transacted on.

recommended

Make Japanese language ability legible

Make Japanese language ability legible. Use the JLPT scale (N1, N2, N3) and add a one-line description of your real working level: business-level reading and writing, conversational only, native, etc. For global-track roles, list TOEIC or TOEFL scores and any overseas work or study experience.

recommended

Show stability and progression

Show stability and progression. Japanese recruiters at traditional employers like JERA still read tenure as a proxy for reliability. If you have moved frequently, add a short context line on each role explaining the move (project completion, company restructuring, sponsored relocation, family reasons) so the pattern is not left to interpretation.

recommended

Connect your work to JERA's strategic pillars

Connect your work to JERA's strategic pillars. If you have hands-on experience with ammonia co-firing, hydrogen, offshore wind, battery storage, LNG trading, IPP development, or grid stability, surface that experience in the summary and in a dedicated section, not buried in a job description on page four.

recommended

Use a clean, single-column layout in 10 to 11 point Mincho or Gothic for Japanes

Use a clean, single-column layout in 10 to 11 point Mincho or Gothic for Japanese documents and a standard sans-serif for English CVs. Avoid graphics, color blocks, two-column designs, and infographics. HRMOS parses uploaded PDFs reliably, but human readers at JERA expect the conservative formatting that Japanese corporate recruiting still treats as default.

recommended

Declare your work authorization status explicitly

Declare your work authorization status explicitly. For non-Japanese applicants, state your current visa, eligibility for sponsorship, and willingness to relocate to Japan. For Japanese applicants applying to overseas-track roles, state your willingness to be posted abroad and any geographic constraints.

recommended

Proofread the Japanese

Proofread the Japanese. If your Japanese is not native-level, have a native speaker review the rirekisho and shokumu keirekisho for honorifics, verb endings, and corporate vocabulary. Small errors signal more than they should at a traditional Japanese employer.

ATS System: HRMOS (by BizReach)

JERA's external careers site at https://hrmos.co/pages/jera/jobs is powered by HRMOS, the recruiting suite operated by BizReach, Inc. HRMOS is one of the dominant ATS platforms inside Japan and is used by a large share of mid-cap and large enterprises that hire through chuto saiyo channels. It hosts the public job board, manages candidate applications, and routes documents to JERA's in-house recruiters and hiring managers. New graduate (shinsotsu) recruiting at JERA runs through a separate Japanese career-site funnel and is not handled by HRMOS, so this guidance applies to mid-career and specialist applications.

Create a single HRMOS account and reuse it. HRMOS preserves your application history across all employers on the platform, which means recruiters at JERA can sometimes see prior applications to other companies. Keep your profile clean and current.
Upload PDFs, not Word documents. HRMOS accepts both, but PDF preserves Japanese typography, formatting of rirekisho photographs, and any custom layout you have built into your shokumu keirekisho.
Fill out every structured field, even if your resume already contains the information. HRMOS surfaces structured fields (work history dates, education, language scores, salary expectation) to recruiters in a summary view, and an empty field can be read as a red flag.
Use the motivation statement field. Most HRMOS postings include a free-text 志望動機 or self-PR field. Write 300 to 600 Japanese characters that connect a specific recent project of yours to the named responsibilities of the JERA role. Generic statements get screened out fast.
Mind the file naming convention. Name your files in the standard Japanese pattern: 履歴書_LastnameFirstname.pdf and 職務経歴書_LastnameFirstname.pdf. Recruiters reviewing dozens of applications a week appreciate the predictability.
Do not spam multiple postings. Applying to five or six JERA roles at once through HRMOS is visible to the recruiter team and is read as a lack of focus. Pick one or at most two postings that genuinely fit and apply with tailored materials.
Watch the email channel. HRMOS communications come from no-reply addresses on the hrmos.co domain. Whitelist them so screening invitations and interview scheduling links do not land in spam.

Interview Culture

JERA interviews are a recognizable Japanese corporate experience and candidates who arrive expecting Silicon Valley pacing, casual dress, or rapid-fire technical whiteboarding will be off balance from the first round. Plan for formality, structure, and patience. Dress is conservative business attire. Dark suit, white shirt, restrained tie or blouse for in-person interviews at the Otemachi headquarters. The same standard applies to video interviews, where candidates regularly underestimate how visible casual dress is on camera. Arrive ten minutes early for in-person rounds; for video, log in five minutes before the scheduled start and confirm audio. Opening etiquette matters. Greet each interviewer by surname plus 様 or the appropriate title, exchange business cards (meishi) with two hands if interviewing in person, and wait to be invited to sit. For Japanese-language interviews, default to keigo (敬語) throughout, including with junior interviewers. The structure is largely predictable. Expect a self-introduction (jiko shokai, 自己紹介) of two to three minutes, a chronological walk through your career, deep questions on one or two recent projects, behavioral and motivation questions, and a closing block of your questions for the interviewers. Domestic interviews run in Japanese; global-track interviews mix Japanese and English depending on the panel, and it is normal for one or two interviewers to ask questions in English while others stay in Japanese. Technical depth varies sharply by track. Plant engineering, fuel procurement, trading, and ammonia or hydrogen project candidates should expect detailed technical questioning: thermodynamics and combustion for thermal engineers, term sheets and pricing formulas for LNG trading candidates, project finance structures and EPC contracting for development candidates, and grid and dispatch behavior for energy market candidates. Numbers are expected to be cited from memory, not looked up. Motivation and long-term commitment are tested explicitly. Why JERA, why this role, why now, and how do you see your career over the next five to ten years are not warm-up questions; they are core evaluation criteria. JERA invests heavily in mid-career hires and is openly cautious about candidates it expects to leave inside two years. Questions about decarbonization, ammonia co-firing, and the JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 plan are common. You do not need to be a domain expert, but you should be able to discuss the strategy intelligently and to connect it to your own work. Be ready for silence. Japanese interviewers often pause after your answers. Do not fill the silence with extra material; allow the interviewer to direct the next question. Be ready also for very granular questions about timelines, gaps in employment, salary history, and reasons for leaving each prior employer. Finally, send a thank-you message. A short, polite Japanese-language email to the recruiter (not directly to the interviewers) within 24 hours of each round is standard practice and is noticed.

What JERA Looks For

Demonstrated subject-matter depth in one of JERA's strategic pillars: thermal generation operations and engineering, LNG and gas trading, renewables development (especially offshore wind), ammonia and hydrogen value chain, energy markets and trading, or international project development.
Comfort operating inside a hybrid Japanese and global culture. Candidates who can move between Japanese-language internal meetings and English-language counterparties, contracts, and joint ventures are unusually valuable to JERA right now.
A track record that holds up to forensic questioning. JERA interviewers will ask for specific numbers, specific counterparties, and specific outcomes. A polished resume that falls apart under detailed questioning is the fastest way to lose a process.
Long-term orientation. The company is investing on multi-decade time horizons (2050 net zero, 20-year LNG offtakes, 25-year offshore wind PPAs) and explicitly favors candidates whose stated career arc fits that timeframe.
Risk awareness and operational discipline. JERA runs critical infrastructure and trades large notional positions; candidates whose past work shows attention to safety, compliance, counterparty risk, and operational reliability score highly.
Cultural humility for non-Japanese candidates. Willingness to learn Japanese business norms, work within hierarchical decision processes, and accept that consensus building takes time is valued more than aggressive individual initiative.
Stability and credibility for mid-career candidates. JERA's recruiter base reads tenure as a proxy for reliability; a clear, well-explained career narrative beats a flashy but choppy one.
For shinsotsu candidates: strong academic credentials from Japanese universities (especially in mechanical, electrical, chemical, or nuclear engineering, plus economics and law for corporate tracks), demonstrated interest in the energy sector, and the standard Japanese new-graduate soft skills of teamwork and adaptability.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to speak Japanese to work at JERA?

For roles based at the Tokyo headquarters or at Japanese power stations, business-level Japanese (JLPT N2 or higher in practice) is effectively required. Global-track roles in LNG trading, international project finance, offshore wind development, and overseas offices like JERA Americas accept English-primary candidates, but even in those teams, working knowledge of Japanese accelerates integration significantly. The honest read is that JERA is a Japanese company first and a global energy company second, and language ability shapes which doors are open to you.

How long does the JERA interview process take?

Plan for four to eight weeks from application to offer for a typical mid-career role, and longer for senior or executive positions where additional approvals are needed. Document screening alone can run one to three weeks. Three to four interview rounds are standard, and JERA does not artificially compress the schedule the way a tech company might.

Does JERA sponsor work visas for non-Japanese applicants?

Yes, for roles where the team has explicitly identified a need for international expertise. This is most common in LNG trading, ammonia and hydrogen value chain, offshore wind, international project development, and certain corporate functions like finance and legal. Sponsorship is less common for plant operations and engineering roles inside Japan, where Japanese language ability is essentially a job requirement. Confirm visa sponsorship explicitly with the recruiter before investing in a full process.

What ATS does JERA use for applications?

JERA uses HRMOS, the BizReach-operated recruiting platform, for its public mid-career job board at https://hrmos.co/pages/jera/jobs. New graduate (shinsotsu) hiring runs through a separate Japanese career-site funnel timed to the Japanese academic recruiting calendar. Internal transfers and senior executive searches are typically handled through direct sourcing or executive search firms rather than HRMOS.

What roles is JERA hiring for most actively right now?

Hiring patterns shift quarter to quarter, but the strategic priorities are visible: ammonia and hydrogen value chain experts, offshore wind developers and project finance professionals, LNG traders and originators, thermal plant engineers with experience in fuel switching and emissions reduction, energy market and trading analysts for the post-FIT Japanese power market, and corporate functions (finance, legal, sustainability, ESG) supporting the international expansion. Check HRMOS directly for current openings.

Is JERA a good employer for foreign professionals?

It depends sharply on the role. Foreign professionals on the global track, in trading desks, in JERA Americas, or in specialist roles tied to international fuel value chains generally report a positive experience: real responsibility, meaningful budgets, and exposure to one of the most strategically important energy companies in the world. Foreign professionals embedded into traditional headquarters functions in Japan without strong Japanese language ability can find the consensus-driven, hierarchical decision culture frustrating. Self-assess honestly before applying.

What is the JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 plan and why does it matter for hiring?

The Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 plan is JERA's commitment to net-zero CO2 emissions across its domestic and overseas businesses by 2050, anchored on three pillars: thermal generation efficiency improvement, the introduction of zero-emission fuels (especially ammonia and hydrogen co-firing, demonstrated at Unit 4 of the Hekinan thermal power station), and renewable energy expansion. It matters for hiring because almost every strategic role at JERA now connects back to this plan, and interviewers expect candidates to understand the strategy at a basic level and to be able to articulate how their work contributes to it.

Where are JERA's offices?

The headquarters is in Otemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Major operational sites include the company's thermal power stations along the Pacific coast of Japan (Hekinan, Kawasaki, Futtsu, Anegasaki, Hirono, and others through joint ventures such as the Hitachinaka Generation joint venture). International offices include JERA Americas (Houston and other US locations), JERA Asia (Singapore as a regional hub), JERA Nex (the renewables platform built around the Parkwind acquisition with European bases), and growing footprints in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

What is compensation like at JERA?

JERA pays in line with the upper range of major Japanese utilities and trading houses for mid-career hires, with a base salary, role-based allowances, biannual bonuses, and overseas posting allowances for international assignments. Specialist tracks such as LNG trading and senior international roles are competitive with international energy companies and trading houses. Specific bands are not disclosed publicly; HRMOS postings sometimes include a salary range, and the recruiter will discuss compensation in detail before formal offer.

Is JERA hiring new graduates from outside Japan?

JERA's main shinsotsu pipeline is built around Japanese university graduates and follows the Japanese academic recruiting calendar. International new graduate hiring exists but is limited and typically requires native-level Japanese, a Japanese university degree, or strong ties to Japan. Foreign students who do not fit this profile generally have a better path into JERA through mid-career hiring after building two to five years of experience in the energy industry elsewhere.

Key Takeaways

About JERA

Application Process

Resume Tips for JERA

Submit both formats when applying domestically

Lead the shokumu keirekisho with a 150 to 250 word professional summary that nam

Quantify everything in units the energy industry recognizes

Name the standards, codes, and counterparties you have worked with

Make Japanese language ability legible

Show stability and progression

Connect your work to JERA's strategic pillars

Use a clean, single-column layout in 10 to 11 point Mincho or Gothic for Japanes

Declare your work authorization status explicitly

Proofread the Japanese

ATS System: HRMOS (by BizReach)

Interview Culture

What JERA Looks For

Frequently Asked Questions

Open Positions

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