Manager, Customer Success

Mission

Lead a team of 4-10 Customer Success Managers supporting our high and medium touch segments. Your job: Make Zendesk’s customers so successful they want to buy more, stay longer, and advocate fiercely. Build a team that blends financial acumen, technical product knowledge, and data‑driven experimentation into a customer outcomes powerhouse. You are known for leading with a growth mindset, collaborating across teams, and creating a people‑first culture that empowers your team to deliver outsized impact daily. You have unrelenting operational discipline and create a space where world‑class CSM performance is accelerated by experimentation and constant reinvention.

Overarching Objective For The Role

• Drive Strategic Adoption and Integration of AI‑Enabled Customer Success Tools
• Maximize Team Performance and Customer Outcomes
• Cultivate Continuous AI Fluency and Enablement within the Team

What Makes You Different

• See ambiguity as an invitation to create, not retreat.
• Natural "builder" with an innate operator’s discipline: you design, run, measure, and continuously improve processes at scale.
• Fluent in data language—dashboards, deep technology conversations, and API integrations don’t faze you. If you don’t know, you dig in and teach your teams.
• Thrive on getting close to work: side‑by‑side with CSMs, troubleshooting complex customer journeys, and strategizing live with internal partners.
• Obsess over detail that drives outcomes—GRR/NRR metrics, usage & adoption intelligence, analytics, risk flags, customer value mapping.
• Transform ambiguity into structure—gain buy‑in for change, standardize processes and technology, evangelize best practices.

How You’ll Make An Impact

• Build and Lead a Team of Value Architects.
• Hire, coach, and grow a diverse team, fostering a culture of curiosity, candor, and courageous experimentation.
• Accelerate your team’s product and overall CX technology proficiency, ensuring deep technology and AI fluency to lead customer conversations.
• Set and communicate crystal‑clear goals, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual KPIs, and clear accountability frameworks.
• Attend in‑person customer meetings, assist with deep multi‑threading, and use Gong consistently to coach the team, identify trends, and stay ahead of the market.
• Empower teams while driving operational consistency and rigorous execution to exceed financial targets and contribute to complex cross‑functional initiatives.
• Engineer Next‑Level Customer Outcomes.
• Inspire CSMs to act as mini‑CEOs—owning portfolio strategies, customer prioritization planning, eliminating blockers and opportunities end‑to‑end.
• Lead internal monthly/quarterly business reviews (MBRs/QBRs), ensure success plans are built, adopted, and regularly refreshed based on driving customer outcomes that matter.
• Actively manage churn and expansion playbooks, pipeline health, renewal forecasting accuracy, and run the business by the numbers.
• Lead an AI‑First Revolution in Success—relentlessly drive adoption and sophistication of AI‑powered tools for risk flagging, customer insights, automation, and customer engagement.
• Partner with Product/AI teams, pilot new tools, and iterate aggressively based on real‑world feedback.
• Teach AI best practices to new hires or serve as a "player‑coach" during troubleshooting sessions.
• Own forecasting, retention and growth strategies, and portfolio reporting—ensuring accuracy, transparency, and proactive risk management.
• Optimize workload distribution and manage capacity with agile, data‑driven resource allocation.
• Champion rigorous performance results through regular 1:1s, career development, and actionable feedback.

Expected Management Duties (What World‑Class Orgs Demand)

• Business Ownership & Segment Strategy: act as the business owner for the assigned segment, taking responsibility for revenue outcomes, resource planning, operational health, and ensuring CS feedback influences the product roadmap.
• Performance Management & Talent Development: coach for high performance, maintain team health, conduct skills assessments, and champion promotions for high‑potential talent.
• Talent Pipeline & Team Growth: recruit, interview, and onboard new Customer Success Managers, focusing on building a diverse team.
• High‑Impact Escalation Leadership: personally drive resolution for high‑impact or strategic customer situations and document learnings for continuous improvement.

What You’ll Need To Succeed

• AI & Automation Adoption: early adopter and optimizer of workflow automation, generative AI, and digital engagement tooling; guide teams through adoption and troubleshoot issues.
• Data Mastery: proficiency with CRM and CS platforms (Zendesk, Gainsight, Salesforce, etc.), analytics platforms (Looker, Tableau, or similar), and data analysis, reporting, and dashboard building.
• Financial Acumen: connect operational levers to revenue outcomes; navigate retention, renewal/expansion analysis, forecasting, and ARR/MRR modeling.
• Process Engineering: design and implement standard operating procedures, success plans, customer health scoring models, and scalable playbooks.
• Risk and Opportunity Management: root cause analysis for escalations, build early warning systems, and mobilize cross‑functional teams.
• Segment Strategy: tailor engagement strategies to SMB, Commercial, Enterprise, and Strategic accounts using structured frameworks.

Your Background

• 9+ years in Customer Success or relevant customer‑facing roles in SaaS or technology companies, with at least 5+ years managing teams.
• Technical & AI Fluency: strong expertise in leveraging AI‑driven tools, analytics, and automation to impact customer success outcomes.
• Deep Customer Success Leadership: proven experience leading high‑performing teams segmented by customer size/complexity.
• Language Fluency: fluency in French and English; another language is a plus.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: track record of collaborating with product, sales, marketing, and AI/technology teams.
• Data & Financial Acumen: confident running QBRs, NRR/GRR analyses, and forecasting with data‑driven decisions.
• Adaptability & Drive: curiosity, high adaptability, and a history of delivering results in ambiguous, rapid‑paced environments.
• Education & Certifications: Bachelor’s degree in Business or Technology preferred; advanced degrees or certifications in Customer Success or AI Application are a significant plus.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Zendesk is an equal‑opportunity employer. We foster global diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, or veteran status. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please consult local regulations. Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable law.