Vice President of Customer Success (Professional Services)

About the role

We are seeking an experienced, competitive Customer Success leader to own retention and growth for our Professional Services (PS) market segment. This Vice President carries the financial commitment for the PS segment, including renewal, retention, and qualified lead generation from Customer Success (CS), measured against explicit Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) targets and a CS-sourced pipeline conversion goal.

The role includes direct authority over CS organization design and headcount, input on discount and escalation decisions for renewal conversations, and forecast sign-off on CS-owned pipeline. The Vice President partners closely with the VP of Renewals & Growth to align strategy, forecasting, and execution against shared fiscal targets, and brings an AI-forward, customer-centric approach to driving world-class renewal and upsell rates across all PS solutions.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership:
  • Own the financial commitment for the PS market segment — renewal, retention, and qualified lead generation from CS — against explicit NRR/GRR targets and a CS-sourced pipeline conversion goal.
  • Drive exceptional retention and adoption results through a competitive, data-driven approach to customer engagement, treating every at-risk account as a save to be won.
  • Champion an AI-first approach to customer engagement, including AI agents, predictive health scoring, and automation, while owning governance of AI-led customer touchpoints for accuracy, tone, and compliance.
  • Serve as a trusted partner to the VP of Renewals & Growth, aligning fiscal targets, forecasts, and go-to-market execution.
• Operational Excellence:
  • Lead and scale a high-performing Customer Success organization — onboarding, adoption, support, and renewals — building AI-augmented lifecycle programs that drive adoption, expansion, and long-term loyalty.
  • Set and own retention and revenue-retention goals tied to the segment’s fiscal commitments, shifting success plans from adoption and health-score tracking to documented, quantified business outcomes (e.g., time-to-value, productivity gains).
  • Apply AI and machine learning — predictive churn models, automated health scoring, generative AI-assisted account planning and QBRs — to drive efficiency, and own the customer data and signal infrastructure that fuels these models.
  • Develop and maintain renewal and upsell forecasts and performance dashboards, coordinating with Renewals & Growth to report NRR, GRR, and retention KPIs to executive and board-level stakeholders.
• Team & Talent:
  • Recruit, mentor, and develop a world-class Customer Success team, building fluency in AI-enabled tools and commercial acumen so CSMs can quantify value and identify expansion and lead-generation opportunities.
  • Design incentive and recognition structures that reward retention wins, upsell attainment, and proactive churn saves.
  • Foster a culture of accountability, competitive drive, and customer obsession.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  • Serve as a Customer Success ambassador across all lines of business and to the customer base, acting as the voice of the customer in executive discussions and influencing product roadmap and AI investment priorities.
  • Partner with Renewals & Growth, Sales, Product, Marketing, and Engineering to ensure shared accountability for fiscal targets and a unified customer experience and feedback loop.
  • Collaborate with Finance and Legal to streamline renewals, pricing strategies, and contract negotiations.

Requirements

• Leadership Experience: Over 10 years in Customer Success, Account Management, or related SaaS/enterprise software roles, including 5+ years owning a bookings or NRR target in senior leadership.
• Competitive, Customer-Outcomes Mindset: A track record of treating churn and at-risk renewals as saves to be won, thriving on hitting retention and growth numbers while keeping customer outcomes central.
• Proven Track Record: Success managing and scaling organizations of 100+ people, delivering $250M+ in annual retention bookings with consistent year-over-year growth in a subscription-based model.
• Customer Lifecycle & Commercial Expertise: Deep understanding of customer lifecycle management and success metrics (NRR, CSAT, churn); skilled at quantifying value in financial terms and operating in a consultative, quasi-sales capacity to identify expansion and lead-generation opportunities.
• AI & Automation Fluency: Hands-on experience applying AI and machine learning to customer success operations — predictive analytics, generative AI, workflow automation — including governance of AI-led customer interactions and the data infrastructure that supports them.
• Technology Proficiency: Proficient in Salesforce and AI-enabled customer analytics platforms; Gainsight and ERP software experience preferred.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Skilled at partnering with senior leaders and cross-functional teams in matrixed, high-growth environments.
• Team Building & Talent Development: History of building high-performing teams and developing talent through disciplined coaching and incentive design.
• Executive Communication & Presence: Exceptional communication skills with experience presenting to C-level executives and influencing stakeholders at all levels.
• Travel: Ability to travel up to 30%.

Compensation

This role carries a meaningful performance bonus tied to NRR/GRR and retention attainment, reflecting direct accountability for the PS market segment’s fiscal commitment. Compensation is benchmarked against peer commercial leadership roles, including Renewals & Growth.