General Manager, Japan at Runway

We are building AI to simulate the world through merging art and science.

We believe that world models are at the frontier of progress in artificial intelligence. Language models alone won’t solve the world’s hardest problems – robotics, disease, scientific discovery. Real progress requires models that experience the world and learn from their mistakes, the same way that humans do. And this kind of trial and error can be massively accelerated when done in simulation, rather than in the real world.

World models offer the most clear path to general-purpose simulation, changing how stories are told, how scientific progress is made and how the next frontiers of humanity are reached.

Our team consists of creative, open minded, caring and ambitious people who are determined to change the world. We aspire to continuously build impossible things and our ability to do so relies on building an incredible team. If you are driven to do the same, we'd love to hear from you.

*Titles posted to our careers page are updated regularly to best advertise the role and expected seniority, but internally we have a flat titling system with two types of titles: one for individual contributors and one for people managers.

We are seeking a visionary and high-impact General Manager for Japan to lead our commercial expansion. This is a foundational role. You will be responsible for defining our go-to-market strategy in Japan, establishing enterprise partnerships and customer relationships and driving the adoption of Runway’s creator platform across the region.

Note: For candidates based in Tokyo, this role may expand into the Country Manager, overseeing local operations and serving as the primary representative of Runway in Japan.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Lead commercial efforts by designing the go-to-market strategy for Japan, focusing on high-value enterprise accounts in media, entertainment, advertising, brands and technology sectors

- Identify enterprise and distribution partnerships, cultivating relationships with C-suite executives at Japan’s largest firms, navigating the unique nuances of Japanese business culture and long-term relationship building

- Localize product and marketing strategy to the Japan market, working closely with Product, Creative, and Marketing teams to ensure Runway’s offerings and messaging are deeply resonant with Japanese customer base

- Serve as the subject matter expert on the Japanese and broader Asia competitive landscape, regulatory environment and emerging AI trends

- Build the Japan office by recruiting, leading and mentoring a local team of enterprise account executives, and growth and deployment leads

- Represent Runway at major industry events, conferences, and in the media to establish us as the leading AI partner for Japanese creators and enterprises

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

- 10+ years of experience in enterprise software, media technology or high-growth AI startups, with a proven leadership track record of building and cultivating high performance teams

- Native fluency in Japanese, with professional fluency in English. You must be able to bridge the communication gap between our US teams and local stakeholders

- An existing network of relationships within major Japanese media companies, advertising agencies or major tech conglomerates

- Deep understanding of Japanese business etiquette and the ability to navigate complex organizational hierarchies

- Comfortable with the ambiguity of an early-stage international expansion for a category-defining product, thinking in first principles to both close deals on the ground and build processes for scale

Runway strives to recruit and retain exceptional talent from diverse backgrounds while ensuring pay equity for our team. Our salary ranges are based on competitive market rates for our size, stage and industry, and salary is just one part of the overall compensation package we provide.

There are many factors that go into salary determinations, including relevant experience, skill level and qualifications assessed during the interview process, and maintaining internal equity with peers on the team. The range shared below is a general expectation for the function as posted, but we are also open to considering candidates who may be more or less experienced than outlined in the job description. In this case, we will communicate any updates in the expected salary range.

Lastly, the provided range is the expected salary for candidates in the U.S. Outside of those regions, there may be a change in the range, which again, will be communicated to candidates.

WORKING AT RUNWAY

Great things come from great teams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwmj4ato2kw&ab_channel=Runway We’d love to hear from you.

We’re committed to creating a space where our employees can bring their full selves to work and have equal opportunity to succeed. So regardless of race, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, origin, ability, age, veteran status, if joining this mission speaks to you, we encourage you to apply.

More about Runway

- Universal World Simulator https://runwayml.com/world-simulator.html

- GWM-1 https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-runway-gwm-1

- Gen-4.5 https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-runway-gen-4.5

- General World Models https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-general-world-models

- Robotics SDK https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-runway-gwm-1#robotics-section

- Conversational Real-time Agents https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-runway-gwm-1#avatars-section

- Runway Studios https://runwayml.com/studios

We're excited to be recognized as a best place to work:

Crain's https://www.crainsnewyork.com/awards/best-places-work-2023 | InHerSight https://www.inhersight.com/companies/best/city/new-york-city-ny | BuiltIn NYC https://builtin.com/awards/new-york-city/2024/best-places-to-work | INC https://www.inc.com/best-workplaces/2024