Manager, Customer Success Manager

Role Summary

The Manager of Customer Success leads a team of Customer Success professionals responsible for driving adoption, value realization, renewal, and expansion across a defined customer portfolio. This leader sets clear expectations, builds scalable processes, and partners cross‑functionally (Sales, Renewals, Support, Product, Professional Services) to deliver predictable customer outcomes and protect recurring revenue (ARR).

You will be accountable for the performance, development, and engagement of your team, ensuring they execute consistently against customer journeys, playbooks, and KPIs.


Key Responsibilities
1. Customer Outcomes & Revenue
Own renewal, churn, and expansion outcomes for the team’s book of business, in partnership with Sales and Renewals.
Ensure CSMs build and maintain strategic success plans for priority accounts, with clear business outcomes, owners, and timelines.
Oversee delivery of the annual department KPIs targets for the assigned regions under management.
Proactively identify at‑risk customers, ensure CSMs build and deliver save plans, and drive cross‑functional mitigation actions.
Use data (segmentation, health scores, product usage, NPS/CSAT, support signals) to prioritize focus and interventions across the portfolio.
2. Team Leadership & People Management
Recruit, onboard, and develop a high‑performing Customer Success team aligned to company values.
Set clear goals and expectations (KPIs, behaviours), and run a consistent rhythm of 1:1s, coaching, and performance reviews.
Build strong career development plans for each team member, including skills, certifications, and stretch assignments.
Model and reinforce a culture that is customer‑obsessed, data‑driven, collaborative, and accountable.
Address performance issues early with clear feedback, support, and structured improvement plans where needed.
3. Operational Excellence
Implement and continuously improve standard processes and playbooks for adoption, value realization and churn mitigation.
Drive effective use of Customer Success tooling (e.g., Gainsight/CS platform, CRM, support systems) for accurate data and workflows.
Own the team’s forecasting and reporting for renewals, risk, and expansion opportunities.
Ensure accurate and timely documentation in systems of record (success plans, notes, health updates, risk registers).
4. Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Act as the primary Customer Success point of contact for Sales, Renewals, Support, Product, and Services in your region or segment.
Ensure alignment with sales on program activities, account strategies, deal reviews, and exec engagement plans.
Collaborate with Marketing on customer engagement with events, advocacy, references, and customer stories from your team’s accounts.
Represent Customer Success in escalations and incident reviews, ensuring clear customer communication and follow‑through.

Required Experience & Skills

• 10+ years in Customer Success, Account Management, Consulting, or related customer‑facing roles in B2B SaaS / enterprise software.
• 2+ years leading or mentoring CSMs or similar roles (formal line management preferred).
• Strong understanding of subscription / ARR business models, renewals, and expansion mechanics.
• Demonstrated experience driving customer adoption and value realization with complex, multi‑stakeholder accounts.
• Comfortable working with executive stakeholders (Director, VP, C‑level) and leading structured, outcome‑driven meetings.
• Proven ability to interpret data (health scores, usage, pipeline, churn trends) and convert insights into actions.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills (written, verbal, and presentation).
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams under time pressure.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with Sales, Support, Product, and Professional Services.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Identity & Access Management (IAM), security, or adjacent enterprise SaaS domain.
• Hands‑on experience with Customer Success platforms (e.g., Gainsight, Totango, ChurnZero) and CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce).
• Track record of building or improving CS playbooks, processes, or programs at scale.
• Experience managing distributed / remote teams across regions.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The Manager of Customer Success will be measured on a combination of:

• Renewal Rate for team portfolio.
• Churn ($ and %) against plan, with clear visibility of at‑risk ARR and mitigation status.
• Expansion contributed or influenced by the team.
• Coverage metrics: success plan coverage, EBR / Road Map / VU / SP review cadence, health score coverage and updates.
• Customer advocacy: NPS/CSAT, references, case studies, and participation in advisory boards or events.
• Team health and performance: retention, engagement, hiring quality, promotion readiness, and performance distribution.

Behaviours & Values

• Customer‑obsessed: champions customer outcomes and long‑term partnerships.
• Data‑driven: uses data to prioritize, decide, and course‑correct.
• Team‑first leader: wins through collaboration, clear communication, and shared success.
• Accountable: sets high standards, owns results, and addresses issues directly and constructively.
• Growth mindset: embraces feedback, change, and continuous improvement for self and team.