Introducing the CIO support team

Introduction

Hi, I'm Haruta from the CIO support team in the CIO office. As the name suggests, I support our CIO, Kageyama-san, and handle company-wide financial and legal management at KINTO Technologies.

Our team plays a key role in managing back-office operations across the company including coordinating internal approval procedures, orders with vendors, internal and external expense reimbursements, and billing and payment procedures.

I'm Kitagawa, also from the CIO support team. I'm in charge of recruiting partner engineers to support our development engineers, constantly looking for new talent. Our team is quite diverse, with some members in charge of organizational development and communication initiatives, while others focus on supporting our international staff.

This article introduces our back office operations and the support our team provides to development groups.

Background

The systems developed by KINTO Technologies are considered assets of our parent company, Toyota Financial Services Corporation, and are provided by Toyota Financial Services to KINTO Corporation for use in delivering KINTO services.

• KINTO: Business owner and system user of the KINTO services
• KINTO Technologies: Responsible for system development and operation for KINTO services
• Toyota Financial Services: Owner of all systems related to KINTO services

Since each of the three companies has a distinct role, the commercial and contractual processes can become quite complicated. As such, the CIO support team as a part of KINTO Technologies handles the company's back-office operations. Some members also work for the other two companies, ensuring that coordination and procedures between the three companies can be handled more quickly and accurately. As a result, we're able to avoid holds or delays caused by administrative procedures and help accelerate both administrative procedures and the actual start of on-site system development.

CIO Support Team Initiatives

1. Eliminating the "Hassle" for Engineers

In a typical company, when a new project begins, the development group has to initiate internal approval processes, attend multiple meetings, and gather stamps of approval before development can even start. At our company, in accordance with the decision-making authority regulations, some decisions are made through approval meetings, but about 95% of our internal approvals are completed in just one or two steps. Furthermore, the CIO support team has built a system to handle nearly the entire approval process, from drafting and submission to routing and final storage, so that development engineers can stay focused on their development.

Along with the approval process taken as an example, the same approach applies to contracts and intellectual property management. For instance, when receiving a request from our engineers to "sign a new contract with XX Company," we step in to handle coordination with the vendor and support the process through to completion. Our goal is to build an engineer-first organization.

2. Workflow Design Based on the Toyota Production System

KINTO Technologies, a Toyota Group company, embraces the Toyota Production System, which focuses on eliminating waste in the production flow. We still have a long way to go, but we're actively working to build our internal workflows. For example, when a human error occurs, we pause the task until the root cause is identified. Then, following the principle of "building quality into the process," we resume the work with preventative measures in place.

In addition, the Toyota Production System classifies work into three categories: 1) Value-added work, which directly increases value; 2) Non-value-added but necessary work; and 3) Waste, which is not necessary for the task. At our workplace, we are conscious of waste in administrative tasks, such as whether we're delaying timely information sharing or decision-making by waiting for regular meetings, or whether the materials we use contain the amount of information reviewers need and can be used effectively.

3. Hiring Partner Engineers

KINTO Technologies has focused on hiring mid-career full-time employees and has grown rapidly to a 300-person organization. Many partner engineers have joined us to support our full-time engineers. We leave the management of vendor partners with whom each development group has established solid communication and systems, but when it comes to specialized or niche roles that are needed at specific points in a project or as part of team-building efforts, those requests come to us. We actively search for and recruit top talent from a wide range of outsourcing partners.

*Areas of responsibility
Mass talent: Handled by the development managers
Niche talent: Handled by our team

In these niche areas, specialized or niche roles that are needed at specific points in a project or as part of team-building efforts, those requests come to us. We search for and recruit top talent from a wide range of outsourcing partners. One notable aspect is that we actively work with freelance engineers, many of whom are making valuable contributions to our projects. ​

4. Other Initiatives

Our CIO support team is made up of members with diverse backgrounds, and we work together to solve a wide range of challenges. Members in charge of internal communication facilitate information sharing through regular meetings and study sessions, and organizes training to improve communication across all levels of the organization. ​ We also have members who are responsible for translating various documents within the company. Nearly 30% of KINTO Technologies' employees are non-Japanese nationals, and many are more comfortable communicating in English. To ensure no one is left behind due to language barriers, we handle key meeting minutes and internal document translations in-house, delivering them promptly. ​ Currently, KINTO Technologies has offices in four locations: two in Tokyo (Nihombashi and Jimbocho), Nagoya, and Osaka. Each office has on-site assistants who are ready to respond to employee requests. Whenever an issue arises, it's escalated and addressed without delay. ​ Our basic stance is to be "a team that never says no." That doesn't mean we say yes to everything. Rather, our first priority is to think about how we can respond to requests or solve problems to support our engineers and contribute to their success. As our CIO office manager often says, we strive to embody "servant leadership." Even when a task is unfamiliar, we're willing to dive in, support our engineers, and work to enhance the value of KINTO Technologies.

Future Challenges

By continuing the initiatives outlined in 1 to 4 and consistently doing what needs to be done, we will support the expanding and increasingly sophisticated system development teams at KINTO Technologies. We will continue working closely with our development engineers to maintain and improve a support system that meets their needs and expectations, while also accelerating the reduction of unnecessary tasks, all while making the most of our limited human resources.

Conclusion

Our CIO support team includes many members who were professionals in their respective fields and they proactively respond to requests from development engineers. Although we're still a developing organization with areas to improve, we always put our engineers first and strive to create a stress-free environment where they can fully focus on their work. If you work in a similar role or team and found any of our activities relatable, we'd be glad to connect.

Furthermore, if you're interested in working as an engineer at KINTO Technologies, where this kind of support system is in place, we look forward to working with you.