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