Senior Manager, Strategic Customer Success | JobSetuu

Description

Job Overview

• Source: Jobicy

Job Description

About the Job:

The Senior Manager of Strategic Customer Success will report to the Director of Customer Success, Americas, and lead a team of Strategic CSMs who serve as the primary point of contact for LaunchDarkly’s largest and most critical customers post-sale. The ideal candidate is a people-first leader who is passionate about delivering an exceptional customer experience, brings an innovative approach to Customer Success, and thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. This role is a unique opportunity to shape and lead a team in a growing market at LaunchDarkly, driving both customer success and organizational growth.

Responsibilities:

• Team Leadership and Development: Recruit, lead, and develop a high-performing team of CSMs. Provide ongoing coaching, support, and feedback to help the team grow their skills, deliver strong customer outcomes, and consistently meet or exceed expectations.
• Strategic Strategy and Execution: Partner closely with the GTM ecosystem and other CS teams to build and operationalize Customer Success programs and playbooks tailored to the Strategic customer segment, ensuring alignment with our global CS frameworks.
• Proactive Customer Insight: Enable the team to understand and act early on leading indicators such as onboarding progress, product adoption, risk signals, and expansion potential, in order to reduce churn and drive growth.
• Operational Execution: Bring operational rigor to the team by organizing around key performance metrics, including NDR and expansion, and running regular forecast and pipeline reviews to ensure we deliver against both short- and long-term goals.
• Customer Engagement: Serve as the senior advocate for strategic and high-impact customers. Oversee critical engagements and escalations, and ensure customer needs and insights inform internal decisions. LaunchDarkly is a startup environment, and everyone stays close to customers - one of our core values is “Customers On Speedial.”

About You:

• Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead and develop high-performing teams.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Driven, proactive, and comfortable operating in a highly ambiguous, startup environment.
• Passion for Growth (your own, and your teams): Enthusiastic about continuous learning and personal development. Actively seeks and provides feedback. You consider promoting a team member the best deal you could possibly close! 
• Analytical: Enjoys identifying trends in data and making informed decisions about team and customer outcomes.
• Program Builder: Passionate about building high-impact, customer focused programs. Able to build and execute a project plan, holding stakeholders accountable to a timeline. 
• Sales oriented: You have experience owning a number and want to continue to do so. Customer Success at LaunchDarkly is a commercial function, you should be excited about having commercial responsibility. 
• Problem Solver: Strong critical thinking skills and enjoys solving complex customer problems.
• Team Player: Collaborates well with others, knows when to involve other stakeholders, and proactively keeps others informed.

Qualifications:

• Experience: Minimum of 12 years in a customer-facing role, with at least 3 years in a leadership or team lead position within customer success, account management, or a similar field. 
• Commercial Acumen: Experience owning the renewal process and being accountable for a retention quota. Strong discovery, qualification, and sales skills; training in Command of the Message, MEDDIC, or similar methodologies is preferred.
• Data Orientation: Experience leveraging data to make decisions about talent, team effectiveness, customer programs, etc. 
• Technical Knowledge: Experience working with technical products, preferably within the DevOps space, and interacting with developers or technical personas.
• Project Management: Strong project management skills, with experience holding customers and cross-functional teams accountable to timelines.

Pay:

Target pay ranges based on Geographic Zones* for Level M3:

• Zone 1: San Francisco/Bay Area or NYC Metropolitan Area, Boston, Seattle - $152,000 - $210,000**
• Zone 2: Irvine, LA, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Austin, Portland, Philadelphia, Chicago - $137,000 - $189,000**
• Zone 3: All other US locations - $129,000 - $178,000**

LaunchDarkly operates from a place of high trust and transparency; we are happy to state the pay range for our open roles to best align with your needs. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.

*Within the United States, our geographic pay zones are defined by counties surrounding major metropolitan areas.
**Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), health, vision, and dental insurance, and mental health benefits in addition to salary.

About LaunchDarkly:

Modern software delivery was supposed to be the foundation for a thriving digital business but reality has proven otherwise. Slow, inefficient development cycles, costly outages, and fragmented customer experiences are preventing developers from building their best software. The LaunchDarkly platform helps developers innovate on new features faster while protecting them with a safety valve to instantly rewind when things go wrong. Developers can target product experiences to any customer segment and maximize the business impact of every feature. And by gradually rolling out new application components, they escape nightmare "big-bang" technology migrations. 

The LaunchDarkly platform was built to guide engineers to the next frontier of DevOps by:

• Improving the velocity and stability of software releases, without the fear of end customer outages
• Delivering targeted experiences by easily personalizing features to customer cohorts
• Maximizing the business impact of every feature through the ability to experiment and optimize
• Coordinating the release and optimization of software to provide consistent experiences across mobile platforms and device types
• Improving the effectiveness and productivity of engineering teams, by providing insights into engineering cadence and stability

At LaunchDarkly, we believe in the power of teams. We're building a team that is humble, open, collaborative, respectful and kind. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. LD invites any applicant to review our written Affirmative Action Plan. To do so, contact People Ops at hr@launchdarkly.com. 

Do you need a disability accommodation?

Fill out this accommodations request form and someone from our People Operations team will contact you for assistance. 

Your safety matters to us. To protect yourself from potential scams, LaunchDarkly recruiters will only contact you from @LaunchDarkly.com email addresses or via LinkedIn from "Verified Recruiter" accounts.Be cautious of emails from other domains. Legitimate LaunchDarkly recruiters will never ask for money, fees, or banking information before making a job offer. LaunchDarkly will never make a job offer without conducting a formal interview process. Our interview process does not involve asking detailed questions by email. If you are ever unsure about a communication that you receive, don't click any links—visit Careers | LaunchDarkly directly for confirmed job openings and links to apply.

Please notify us of any fraudulent representation by sending an email to careers@launchdarkly.com.

Expert Career Tips for Senior Manager, Strategic Customer Success Roles

To succeed in a competitive market as a Senior Manager, Strategic Customer Success, you need more than just technical skills. Here are some expert strategies to elevate your profile:

• Build a Strong Portfolio: For technical roles, a clean GitHub or a personal project site is essential. For non-technical roles, a case study portfolio demonstrating problem-solving and impact is equally valuable. Show, don't just tell, what you have achieved in your previous positions.
• Master the Narrative: When interviewing, use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers. Quantify your results wherever possible—mentioning "increased efficiency by 20%" is much more impactful than saying "improved efficiency."
• Continuous Learning: The industry moves fast. Whether it's staying updated with the latest AI tools or mastering a new management methodology, continuous professional development is key. Consider obtaining industry-recognized certifications that align with Senior Manager, Strategic Customer Success requirements.
• Networking: Connect with other professionals in similar roles. Join online communities, attend webinars, and engage in meaningful discussions on professional social networks. Often, the best opportunities come through referrals and community engagement.
• Soft Skills Matter: Communication, empathy, and leadership are often the deciding factors between two equally qualified technical candidates. Cultivate these skills as they are universally valued across all industries and seniority levels.

Additionally, research the specific company's culture and values. Tailoring your application to show how you align with their mission can significantly increase your chances of moving forward in the process.

Salary & Compensation

Salary not disclosed; typically competitive for the role.

Work Arrangement

Type: On-Site

Standard business hours at the office.

Comprehensive Application Strategy & Hiring Process

Applying for a new role is a marathon, not a sprint. Follow this strategic approach to maximize your success rate:

1. Initial Research & Tailoring

Don't send the same resume to every employer. Spend at least 30 minutes researching the company. Look for recent news, their product roadmap, and their team structure. Modify your summary and core competencies to reflect the specific keywords found in the job description.

2. The Perfect Cover Letter

If the application allows for a cover letter, use it to tell a story that your resume cannot. Explain why you are passionate about this specific company and how your unique background makes you the perfect fit for the challenges they are currently facing.

3. Navigating the Multi-Stage Interview

Most modern hiring processes involve 3-5 stages. This typically includes a recruiter screen, a technical or skill-based assessment, a peer interview, and a final leadership round. Prepare for each stage differently: focus on enthusiasm and fit for the recruiter, technical depth for the assessment, and strategic vision for the leadership round.

4. Post-Interview Follow-Up

Always send a personalized thank-you note within 24 hours of each interview. Reference a specific topic discussed during the call to demonstrate your active listening and genuine interest in the role.

By following these steps, you demonstrate a high level of professionalism and attention to detail that sets you apart from the average applicant.

Typical Interview Process

1. Resume screening
2. HR call
3. Skill interview
4. Final manager interview
5. Offer

Tip: Research the company's products and culture.

Global Market Intelligence & Relocation Insights

At JobSetuu, we specialize in helping talent navigate the global job market. Here is what you need to know about the current landscape in Global and beyond:

The demand for skilled professionals is increasingly borderless. For roles based in Global, understanding the local cost of living, visa requirements (if applicable), and cultural nuances is vital. If this is a remote role, consider the time zone alignment and the asynchronous communication culture of the hiring organization.

Relocation Support: Many forward-thinking companies offer relocation packages that include moving stipends, temporary housing, and legal assistance with work permits. When evaluating an offer, look beyond the base salary—consider the total compensation package, including equity, bonuses, and healthcare benefits.

Work-Life Balance Trends: Hybrid and remote work have become standard in many regions. Research the local labor laws and common practices regarding work hours and vacation time to ensure the role aligns with your lifestyle goals.

Leveraging JobSetuu's tools can help you compare salaries across different cities and understand the "purchasing power" of your potential offer, ensuring you make an informed decision for your long-term career path.

Skills & Competency Roadmap for Professional Development

To remain competitive in Professional Development, we recommend focusing on the following core competencies over the next 12-18 months:

• Technical Mastery: Deepen your expertise in the core tools and languages relevant to your field. For developers, this might be cloud architecture; for marketers, it might be data-driven attribution modeling.
• AI Augmentation: Learn how to leverage generative AI and automation tools to increase your productivity. Understanding how to integrate these technologies into your workflow is becoming a non-negotiable skill.
• Leadership & Strategy: Even in individual contributor roles, the ability to think strategically and lead projects from inception to completion is highly valued. Focus on stakeholder management and high-level project planning.
• Data Literacy: The ability to interpret data and use it to drive decisions is essential across all business functions. Familiarize yourself with data visualization and basic analytical concepts.

By investing in these areas, you not only prepare yourself for the role you are applying for today but also build a resilient foundation for the opportunities of tomorrow.

Apply via JobSetuu

Discover your next career milestone on JobSetuu. This Senior Manager, Strategic Customer Success position is part of our commitment to bringing you the most relevant and high-impact job openings globally. At JobSetuu, we simplify your job search by aggregating premier listings and providing the tools you need to stand out. Don't miss the chance to elevate your professional journey—explore more opportunities and career insights on our platform today.