Strategic Initiatives Director

About Crunchyroll

Founded by fans, Crunchyroll delivers the art and culture of anime to a passionate community. We super-serve over 100 million anime and manga fans across 200+ countries and territories, and help them connect with the stories and characters they crave. Whether that experience is online or in-person, streaming video, theatrical, games, merchandise, events and more, it’s powered by the anime content we all love.

Join our team, and help us shape the future of anime!

About the role

The Strategic Initiatives Director will help shape and execute Crunchyroll’s growth agenda by evaluating strategic opportunities, developing clear recommendations for senior leadership, and mobilizing cross-functional teams to move important initiatives forward. The role sits at the intersection of corporate strategy, corporate development, partnerships, operating model design, new business incubation, and enterprise execution.

This is a highly collaborative senior role for a structured thinker who can move comfortably between market analysis, executive communication, financial and strategic assessment, and hands-on program leadership. The portfolio will evolve with business priorities and may include both inorganic and organic growth initiatives.

Reporting to the VP, Corporate Development, the Strategic Initiatives Director will:

• Lead the assessment and prioritization of strategic growth opportunities across Crunchyroll’s businesses, markets, products, and partnerships.
• Translate ambiguous questions into structured analysis, practical options, and clear recommendations.
• Work across Strategy, Corporate Development, Finance, Legal, Product, Content, Marketing, and other business teams to build alignment, drive execution, and spearhead a dynamic range of cross-functional projects.

Areas of responsibility

Strategic opportunity assessments and Build / Buy / Partner decisions

• Monitor market dynamics, competitive activity, emerging business models, and relevant trends; lead target screening, opportunity assessment, and prioritization across sectors, geographies, and business models.
• Build strategic, commercial, and financial frameworks that assess rationale, value-creation potential, risks, dependencies, and execution implications.
• Evaluate strategic partnerships and selected growth capabilities, including fit, economics, feasibility, risks, governance, and recommended path forward.
• Partner with business and functional leaders to shape deal structures, operating requirements, and implementation roadmaps.

Executive decision support and cross-functional alignment

• Prepare concise, decision-useful materials for senior leadership, executive committees, and board discussions, translating complex information into clear recommendations, decision asks, and next steps.
• Coordinate cross-functional workstreams, maintain action logs and decision registers, establish stakeholder cadences, and drive timely follow-through.
• Communicate uncertainty, data gaps, unresolved trade-offs, risks, and dependencies clearly and proactively.
• Where needed, support selected integration-related initiatives by leading or supporting business units in transition, e.g., pre-close planning, milestones, dependencies, and post-closing integration for business continuity.

About you

• You bring 12+ years of experience in corporate strategy, corporate development, management consulting, investment banking, private equity / investing, or a related strategic program leadership role.
• You have a track record of leading complex, cross-functional initiatives from ambiguous problem definition through recommendation and execution.
• You combine strategic judgment with analytical rigor, including market assessment, business cases, financial analysis, scenario evaluation, and prioritization.
• You communicate clearly and credibly with senior executives, business leaders, and functional subject-matter experts, including through polished, executive-ready presentations.
• You create structure, clarify ownership, anticipate dependencies, follow through on commitments, and adapt as priorities change.
• You take pride in excellence, integrity, attention to detail, and an internal sense of urgency; you share our excitement for media, entertainment, and technology.
• A bachelor’s degree is required; an MBA or other advanced degree is preferred but not required.

About the team

Embedded within the broader Strategy organization, the Corporate Development team works closely with senior leadership and across Crunchyroll’s global businesses, spanning subscription video, digital manga, eCommerce, games, theatrical releases, consumer products, and more.

The team evaluates and supports high-profile opportunities across acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and organic growth initiatives. We also partner with stakeholder groups and operating teams across the company to turn strategic priorities into durable execution.

Why you will love working at Crunchyroll

In addition to getting to work with fun, passionate and inspired colleagues, you will also enjoy the following benefits and perks:

• Receive a great compensation package including salary plus performance bonus earning potential, paid annually.
• Flexible time off policies allowing you to take the time you need to be your whole self.
• Generous medical, dental, vision, STD, LTD, and life insurance
• Health Saving Account HSA program
• Health care and dependent care FSA
• 401(k) plan, with employer match
• Employer paid commuter benefit
• Support program for new parents
• Pet insurance and some of our offices are pet friendly!

#LifeAtCrunchyroll #LI-Hybrid 

About our Values

We want to be everything for someone rather than something for everyone and we do this by living and modeling our values in all that we do. We value

• Courage. We believe that when we overcome fear, we enable our best selves.

• Curiosity. We are curious, which is the gateway to empathy, inclusion, and understanding.

• Kaizen. We have a growth mindset committed to constant forward progress.

• Service. We serve our community with humility, enabling joy and belonging for others.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

Our mission of helping people belong reflects our commitment to diversity & inclusion. It's just the way we do business.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at Crunchyroll. Pursuant to applicable law, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Japan's Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.

Questions about Crunchyroll’s hiring process? Please check out our Hiring FAQs: https://help.crunchyroll.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040471712-Crunchyroll-Hiring-FAQs

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