Sr. CX Programs & Automation Manager

About The Role

As our Sr. CX Programs & Automation Manager, you'll own the full lifecycle of net-new AI initiatives across our customer support and operations ecosystem: from identifying the opportunity, building the business case, and driving implementation, through to launch and handoff. This is a dedicated AI delivery role within our AI & Automation pod. You will not own BAU Zendesk maintenance or queue management. Your job is to ship AI that makes our customers' experience better and our agents' work more effective — and to do it with rigor, speed, and measurable outcomes.

Your north star metrics: automation rate, AHT reduction, agent productivity, and customer satisfaction — every initiative you ship should move at least one of these.

A day in the life

• Build and maintain a multi-quarter AI roadmap aligned to CX/Ops OKRs — automation rate, AHT reduction, agent productivity, and coverage — and own prioritization, sequencing, and business case development for each initiative
• Translate CX and Ops pain points into structured AI use cases with clear hypotheses, success metrics, and implementation plans
• Lead delivery in partnership with the Chatbot Strategy Manager, Sr. Manager of Tooling, Analytics, and Engineering
• Drive agent adoption of AI tools (copilot, smart suggestions, AI summaries, auto-tagging) through change management and training
• Design and run experiments and A/B tests to validate AI performance before scaling
• Establish performance baselines and handoff documentation before transitioning live programs to the Sr. Analyst, AI Quality & Continuity
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, and Security to ensure responsible, policy-compliant AI deployment
• Represent CX AI priorities in cross-functional planning and vendor discussions

What We're Looking For

• 7–10+ years in CX operations, support product management, or technical program management
• Hands-on experience launching AI or automation in support environments — Zendesk AI, Intercom Fin, Decagon, or similar
• Strong product thinking: you can take an ambiguous problem, define a clear use case, and build the case for prioritization
• Analytical mindset: comfortable with experiment design, interpreting A/B results, and building performance baselines
• Excellent cross-functional collaborator — you've worked with Engineering, Analytics, Legal, and frontline ops teams to ship AI features
• Comfortable getting hands-on with AI and SaaS tooling — you're not just managing from a distance; you can configure, build, and iterate within platforms like Zendesk AI, Decagon, or similar without needing engineering support for every change
• Experience managing a portfolio of concurrent initiatives

What Success Looks Like In Year One

• A clear, prioritized AI roadmap is in place and being actively executed against
• At least two net-new AI initiatives have launched with defined KPIs and clean handoffs to the quality team
• Ticket deflection and automation rates show measurable improvement attributable to your work
• A governance and experimentation framework is in place so future rollouts move faster and more safely

Pay

Posting range: $130,000 - $160,000. This job may also be eligible for variable compensation in the form of a company incentive bonus.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage; life and AD&D insurance; short- and long-term disability; infertility support and WPATH-aligned transgender health benefits; an Employee Assistance Program (EAP); transit benefits and FSA and HSA options
• Ownership: Equity for all employees, including new hire and refresher grants
• Time: Flexible paid time off, paid parental leave, and a fully paid four-week sabbatical in your sixth year
• Growth: Company-paid professional coaching for all employees
• Wealth: Day-one 401(k) match plus matching on qualified student loan payments