Lead Accountant, Royalty & Rights

Lead Accountant, Royalty & Rights

Bellevue, Washington, United States

The Pokémon Company International manages the Pokémon property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing and marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children's entertainment properties in the world.

Job Summary

The role will serve as a key owner of the company's royalty and rights accounting framework, with a strong emphasis on technical accounting rigor and process excellence. This role will focus on the interpretation of contractual arrangements, validation of upstream royalty reporting, and the design of scalable, auditable processes—while partnering closely with teams responsible for licensee statement processing and cash application. While this role does not directly own licensee transaction processing, it requires a comprehensive understanding of end-to-end royalty flows to ensure alignment across teams. The individual will act as a central point of expertise, translating complex business arrangements into clear accounting treatment and ensuring that downstream processes are appropriately structured and executed.

What You'll Do

• Own Royalty Accounting Framework and Oversight (Excluding Licensee Processing)
  • Develop deep subject matter expertise in royalty and rights-related activities, including contractual structures and reporting requirements
  • Review and interpret agreements with the relevant stakeholders to ensure accurate application of terms
  • Review and validate periodic royalty and participation reports prepared by the team
  • Maintain a comprehensive understanding of end-to-end royalty flows, including upstream business activities and licensee processing and reporting
  • Partner closely with the team responsible for licensee statements and cash application to ensure alignment and accuracy across processes
  • Translate new business arrangements into clear accounting and reporting requirements, and route impacts to the appropriate teams managing licensee transactions
• Establish Processes and Internal Controls
  • Design, document, and implement scalable, auditable royalty accounting processes
  • Strengthen internal controls to ensure compliance, accuracy, and transparency
  • Reduce key-person dependency by creating clear documentation and repeatable workflows
• Support New Business Initiatives
  • Partner with business, legal, finance, and systems teams to operationalize new revenue streams
  • Ensure royalty implications are identified early and properly integrated into systems and reporting
  • Identify gaps and drive solutions to support evolving business models
• Lead Cross-Functional Projects and Issue Resolution
  • Project manage ongoing process improvements
  • Coordinate with stakeholders to investigate root causes, implement fixes, and prevent recurrence
  • Track progress against key milestones and ensure timely delivery of critical initiatives

What You'll Bring

• Accounting & Technical Expertise
  • 8+ years of progressive accounting experience, with strong foundation in US GAAP and internal controls
  • Demonstrated experience in complex, contract-driven accounting areas (e.g., revenue recognition, royalties, licensing, or similar)
  • Proven ability to interpret legal agreements and translate contractual terms into accounting treatment and operational processes
  • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (CPA or equivalent certification strongly preferred)
• Process Improvement & Operational Excellence
  • Strong background in process improvement, process design, and operational scaling
  • Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, or similar methodologies; certification (e.g., Green Belt, Black Belt) preferred
  • Track record of designing and implementing standardized, auditable, and scalable processes
  • Ability to identify control gaps, inefficiencies, and risks, and implement sustainable solutions
• Royalty & Industry Experience
  • Experience in royalty accounting, rights management, or participation reporting strongly preferred
  • Background in media, entertainment, gaming, licensing, or similar industries is a plus
  • Familiarity with royalty systems, ERP platforms, and reporting tools
• Project & Stakeholder Management
  • Excellent project management skills with the ability to drive complex, cross-functional initiatives
  • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills; ability to influence across Finance, Legal, Business, and Systems teams
  • Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments and building structure where it does not exist
• Ability to travel up to 3 times a year internationally.

Base Salary Range: For this role, new hires generally start between $104,000.00 - $139,000.00 per year. The full range is $104,000.00 - $188,000.00 per year. This range is applicable for the labor market where the role is intended to be hired. The final base salary is directly related to the candidate's qualifications and professional experience uniquely.

How You'll Be Successful

• Passion for Pokémon: Develops an understanding of the Pokémon brand, the impact it has on our people, culture, business, fans, and communities, and applying that knowledge and passion to everything you do.
• Challenging the Expected: Approaches challenges with curiosity and creativity, embracing the possibility of failure as an opportunity to learn something new, develop innovative ideas, solve complex problems and identify unique opportunities.
• Integrity and Respect: Demonstrates integrity and respect by leading with empathy, listening to others, seeking out different perspectives, and taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and results.
• Dedicated to Quality: Takes ownership to maintain and promote high standards, looks for new ways to learn and improve, and embraces a growth mindset to seek and apply feedback from others in an effort to continuously improve.
• Building Relationships: Develops and strengthens relationships, adopting a "team first" mentality and working collaboratively to solve problems and meet shared goals.
• Delighting Customers: Listens and understands the interests and needs of our customers and stakeholders, making them feel heard and important, and embracing these learnings to continue delivering a unique Pokémon experience.

What To Expect

• An innovative culture driven by impact, delivering meaningful outcomes.
• Company events that celebrate the spirit of Pokémon.
• Competitive cash-based compensation programs.
• 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for you.
• Generous paid family leave.
• Employer-paid life insurance.
• Employer-paid long and short-term income protection insurance.
• US Employees: 401k Employer Matching.
• UK/IRE/MX Employees: Pension Employer Contributions.
• Fitness reimbursement.
• Commuter benefit.
• LinkedIn learning.
• Comprehensive relocation package for certain roles.
• Hybrid work environment.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this role. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. For roles in the United Kingdom, candidates will need the right to work. In some cases, and for some roles, the Company may be able to arrange a visa. For roles in Ireland, this role requires candidates to have the right to live and work in the Republic of Ireland. However, we welcome applications from all nationalities and may consider supporting an employment permit application, in appropriate and suitable cases.

The Pokémon Company International is committed to the inclusion of all qualified applicants for consideration in our job application process. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview, or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at View email address on click.appcast.io.