Director/Senior Director, Strategy And Business Operations

Title: Director/Senior Director, Strategy and Business Operations

Location: San Mateo, CA (Hybrid, 1-2 days in the office + Executive calls once a night at 6 PM PST)
Salary: $180-230k base + 20% bonus and shares

Rakuten Group, Inc. is the largest e-commerce company in Japan, and the third-largest e-commerce marketplace company worldwide, with over 1.5 billion registered users worldwide. The Rakuten brand is recognized worldwide for its leadership and innovation, and provides a variety of consumer and Business-focused services including e-commerce, e-reading, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal and media, online marketing and professional sports. The company is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas.

Rakuten Viki is a premier global entertainment streaming site where millions of people discover and consume primetime shows and movies subtitled in more than 200 languages, by our community of fans. With billions of videos viewed and more than 1 billion words translated, Viki brings global entertainment to fans everywhere!

Based in San Mateo, California, this role will be reporting to the Chief Operating Officer.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive predictable business growth by delivering visibility and improving efficiency across the revenue process
• Responsible for developing business strategies and operational plans to achieve company objectives
• Be adept at approaching opportunities and challenges from multiple angles by coming up with creative business plans to be successfully realized in a fast-paced environment
• Provide company-wide departments with a strategic view of SVOD, AVOD, and TVOD businesses and shared revenue targets to drive achievement of business objectives.
• Connect market data and revenue activity data to propel data-driven collaboration, execution rigor, and operational agility across organizations
• Share both process goals and revenue goals, conduct and lead periodical business reviews with company leadership to ensure a well-defined performance-to-plan analysis, and continue to adjust processes to meet and exceed the goals of revenue opportunities
• Identify and establish partnership opportunities that generate business revenue and growth. Develop and manage partner relationships to ensure targets are met and exceeded
• Work closely with leadership and support to build revenue strategy. Keep leadership apprised of the revenue operations progress

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree, Master’s Degree or equivalent practical experience
• Over 8 years of previous experience in consumer internet companies in a Business Operations, corporate strategy, go-to-market monetization strategy, or a similar role, with 4+ years in a leadership and management role
• A desire to do both strategic planning and daily execution/optimization
• Expertise in evaluating opportunities in a competitive environment with actionable, insightful market assessment. Strong analytical skills with the ability to apply business strategy to data analysis and recommendations
• Demonstrated history of identifying opportunities with strategic partners, building and managing relationships with them. Experience in selling one’s ideas, negotiating, closing, and growing commercial partnerships
• Ability to plan a project and effectively manage multiple concurrent projects, balancing short term revenue objectives with long term vision
• Proven leader with the ability to bring many parties and perspectives together, to forge a vision, and to drive towards common goals
• Strong problem-solving skills, comfortable with navigating ambiguity with limited information and making tradeoff decisions
• Team management experience with strength in developing team members to achieve individual and company objectives

Company Overview:

• The organization is profitable with 13 million active monthly users, showcasing a strong market presence.
• The company has achieved profitability since early 2020, indicating stable financial health.
• It operates globally with significant teams in South Korea (20-30 people), Singapore (120 people), and a marketing team in San Mateo.
• The company is content-centric, with operations in China and a total headcount of 200 people.
• It supports a community pillar and fandom, providing an in-house platform for growth, forums, and digital publishers.
• The brand is associated with Viki and falls under the Rakuten umbrella, operating independently.

Role Overview - Director of Business Operations:

• New Position: This is a new role within the organization, aimed at establishing and leading the Business Operations function which has been previously managed by executive teams.
• Reporting Structure: The position reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), who is based in the San Mateo office.

Key Responsibilities:

• Act as a strategic partner to the COO, functioning as a right-hand person in identifying and capitalizing on revenue growth opportunities.
• Establish and enhance Business Operations, setting up processes and frameworks suitable for a large organization.
• Lead a small team of around 3-4 people, primarily focused on analytics.
• Collaborate closely with various departments including Product Management, Content, and Marketing to ensure alignment of Business Operations with overall company strategy.
• Focus on Business Operations rather than the product lifecycle of technology, identifying business improvement opportunities.
• Participate in weekly management meetings, often scheduled at night to accommodate global teams.

Qualifications:

• A seasoned professional with 12-15 years of experience, preferably at 5+ at director level.
• Experience in SaaS platforms or marketplace industries, with a preference for candidates with a background in streaming or related fields.
• A consultant mindset with a proven track record of executing strategies effectively.
• Strong analytical skills, capable of setting up and interpreting business metrics and data to drive decisions.
• Excellent leadership abilities, capable of managing and inspiring a team.

Interview Process:

1. Initial HR Interview.
2. Take-Home Assignment covering:
   • Strategies for running a successful Quarterly Business Review (QBR).
   • Metrics crucial for success in streaming platforms.
     • Creation of a business model, supported by research and justification.

1. Zoom Interview with the COO.
2. Onsite Interview involving:
   • The VP of Marketing and VP of Finance alongside the COO.
   • Assessments including whiteboarding sessions, analysis of current revenue streams, and evaluations of business metrics.
   • Cultural fit and marketing collaboration discussions.