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
Runway offers generative AI tools for creating images, videos, and simulations, enabling new creative workflows through AI. It was founded in 2018, and is headquartered in New York, New York, USA, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is https://runwayml.com.