Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Runway is a company focused on building AI to simulate the world by merging art and science. They are seeking a Founding Growth & Deployment Lead to manage strategic enterprise relationships in Japan, guiding deals from initial conversations to closing and ensuring partners thrive on their platform.

Responsibilities

• Own the full commercial lifecycle for Japan book of business – from sourcing and qualifying opportunities to negotiating and closing enterprise deals, through to renewal, upsell, and long-term expansion
• Travel to Japan at least once per quarter for in-person relationship building, deal advancement, and partner support
• Represent Runway in Japan's creative and enterprise ecosystem – at events, industry forums, and partner summits
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Creative, Sales, and Leadership to translate Japan-specific market signals into roadmap input and go-to-market strategy – you are the voice of the Japanese market internally
• Go deep inside partner organizations to understand their creative and operational workflows, then design and propose targeted Runway solutions
• Identify and pursue new categories of opportunity within Japan – new verticals, new use cases, new partner types – and prototype quickly to validate before scaling
• Be hands-on in quickly onboarding new partners to our platform and/or API while also supporting their long-term expansion and technical understanding of how to leverage Runway
• Analyze, track, and report on the performance of existing partnerships leveraging BI tools and data

Skills

• 7+ years of overall experience in customer-facing roles, engaging C-level audiences with complex global organizations ideally within tech, finance, or consulting
• Full professional bilingual fluency in Japanese and English
• Deep familiarity with Japanese enterprise culture, procurement, and relationship dynamics; able to travel to Japan at least quarterly
• Experience owning or contributing to P&L, commercial forecasting, and pipeline management
• Proven track record leading complex Generative AI or ML implementations with measurable business outcomes
• Highly resourceful, autonomous, and action-oriented – thrives in ambiguity, creates structure, and manages competing priorities without losing sight of what matters
• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills
• Existing relationships in Japan's media, entertainment, advertising, or enterprise tech sectors
• SF-based preferred

Company Overview