Lead, Customer Intelligence Governance & Activation
Role Summary
Avalara is scaling an AI-first operating model designed to predict customer needs, reduce systemic friction, protect Gross Revenue Retention (GRR), and lower Cost to Serve (CTS). Customer Signals Now Exist In Volume — Across Voice Of Customer Systems, CX360 Intelligence Outputs, Predictive Analytics, And Operational Data. What Does Not Exist Is a Single Enterprise Authority That Determines: Which signals are credible, Which signals materially impact revenue or cost, Which signals get funded, How impact is verified, Who is accountable when action stalls. Without a governed decision framework, signal volume increases but executive decisions degrade. Roadmaps fragment. Metrics drift. Friction themes compete without financial validation. Revenue risk remains unquantified.
Responsibilities
Lead the Enterprise Customer Intelligence Decision Framework
Define and govern the end-to-end lifecycle: signal capture → validation → financial quantification → prioritization → funding → impact verification.
Establish signal eligibility standards and confidence thresholds before signals enter executive forums.
Embed standardized decision criteria into roadmap and capital allocation governance.
Eliminate fragmentation across listening systems by enforcing a single enterprise framework.
Manage Financial Accountability & Impact Validation
Partner with Finance to measure revenue risk, retention exposure, and cost drivers tied to validated signals.
Validate pre- and post-intervention financial performance.
Hold projects accountable to defined GRR and CTS movement.
Define Artificial Intelligence Governance Standards
Establish governance standards for AI used in signal classification and prioritization.
Define measurable confidence thresholds before automated escalation or prioritization impacts executive forums.
Approve enterprise-level automation triggers affecting funding or sequencing decisions.
Ensure AI is applied responsibly, securely, and auditable.
Define Enterprise Measurement Integrity
Define and standardize Customer Intelligence Measurement definitions across VoC, CX360, predictive analytics, and operational systems.
Prevent metric drift and conflicting reporting throughout the company.
Align Customer Intelligence metrics with financial reporting standards.
Qualifications
B.S. in related field.
8+ years of experience in enterprise program leadership, operating model design, or Customer Intelligence strategy.
Demonstrated experience building governance frameworks adopted across multiple departments.
Direct experience partnering with Finance to measure revenue risk, retention exposure, or cost-to-serve impact.
Experience defining prioritization standards used in executive decision forums.
Demonstrated applied experience governing AI-enabled decision workflows tied to measurable outcomes.
Experience driving accountability in complex matrixed environments.
Demonstrated history of raising execution rigor, decision quality, and measurable performance.
Bar Raiser Expectations
Raise decision-making quality by enforcing structured, finance-aligned prioritization and clear tradeoff frameworks.
Improve enterprise execution rigor by ensuring validated signals translate into funded, accountable initiatives.
Eliminate ambiguity and fragmentation in how customer friction is defined, measured, and acted upon.
Increase organizational capability by establishing repeatable governance standards for signal validation, funding, and impact measurement.
Strengthen cross-functional alignment across Product, Operations, Finance, and GTM through clear frameworks and decision ownership.
Hold the system accountable, not just individuals, ensuring outcomes are tied to measurable GRR and CTS impact.
Leave the enterprise decision system measurably stronger, improving speed, clarity, and financial discipline.
AI Expectations (AI Bar Raiser Standard)
Apply AI-driven clustering, classification, and predictive indicators to grow signal validation.
Measure AI impact in improved prioritization speed, financial modeling, or escalation accuracy.
Define measurable confidence and audit thresholds before automation impacts funding decisions.
Partner with analytics teams to improve model performance tied to GRR and CTS.
Improve AI capability across governance forums by promoting AI-informed decision criteria.
Success Signals
Enterprise Customer Intelligence decision framework formally adopted across Product, Operations, and GTM.
Executive prioritization forums operating with standardized financial validation criteria.
Documented, Finance-validated improvement in GRR and/or measurable CTS reduction attributable to Customer Intelligence–driven action.
≥25% reduction in signal-to-action cycle time.
Elimination of conflicting Measurement definitions across Customer Intelligence systems.
AI-enabled signal validation and prioritization operating within defined governance thresholds.
Customer Intelligence becomes a mandatory input to roadmap and capital allocation decisions.
Predictive signal modeling informs proactive retention and cost reduction strategies.
The enterprise shows measurable improvement in decision speed and financial discipline tied to customer friction resolution.
Total Rewards
Great compensation package.
Paid time off.
Paid parental leave.
Health & Wellness Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.
Inclusive culture and diversity.
Total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.
What You Need To Know About Avalara
We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech.
We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year.
Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we’re not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.
We’re bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear.
We’ve been different from day one.
We’re an Equal Opportunity Employer supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion.