Job Description:

Rakuten Group, Inc. is the largest e-commerce company in Japan, and 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!

Overview:
We are seeking a highly motivated Business Development Manager to support our global partnership strategy, driving brand awareness, user acquisition, and subscriber loyalty across Viki’s subscription offerings. In this role, you will play a critical part in identifying and cultivating partnerships within the OTT space, with a focus on creating compelling subscription bundles and exploring new monetization opportunities.

This role will be based in San Mateo, California, and report to the Director of Business Development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist in the development and execution of partnership strategies focused on expanding Viki’s reach, driving new user acquisition, and optimizing subscription offerings across SVOD, AVOD, and other subscription models.

• Identify and pursue potential partnerships with OTT platforms, mobile apps, content providers, and connected TV ecosystems. Focus on partnerships that enhance subscription value, improve user experience, and drive revenue.

• Collaborate with partners to help create and optimize bundled offers that attract and retain subscribers and assist in analyzing the impact of these offers on user acquisition and churn.

• Manage end to end negotiation process for bundling and subscription-related agreements. Collaborate with senior leaders to close deals that maximize both short- and long-term growth.

• Work closely with cross functional stakeholders including content, marketing, legal, product, finance, and customer experience to help ensure the smooth execution and integration of partnerships into Viki’s business operations.

• Monitor and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) of partnership initiatives, providing insights into performance and suggesting improvements to maximize impact.

• Stay up to date on industry trends in the OTT, AVOD, and digital media spaces. Use market insights to support the development of effective partnership strategies and keep Viki competitive in the marketplace.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in business development, preferably within the OTT, digital media, or subscription-based industries. A keen interest in digital media, subscription growth, and AVOD (Advertising Video On Demand).

• Ability to communicate effectively with both internal and external stakeholders. Strong presentation and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build and maintain relationships.

• Comfortable working with data to track performance, measure success, and identify opportunities for improvement. Strong problem-solving skills and a strategic approach to partnership development.

• Experience negotiating and executing deals, with a keen eye for detail and a focus on mutually beneficial outcomes.

• Adept at working collaboratively with cross-functional teams to implement partnership strategies and ensure smooth execution of new initiatives.

• A passion for the entertainment, tech, and OTT industries, with a creative and innovative mindset focused on growing and evolving digital content offerings.

• Accustomed to thriving in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, managing multiple projects while delivering results on time.

Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the base compensation for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus, health, vision, dental insurance, 401k matching, PTO, Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.

USD $78,651.00 - $135,216.00 annually