The posting
AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.
The Senior Client Success Manager (Sr. CSM) owns executive-level relationships and is accountable for protecting and expanding long-term client value. This role operates as a strategic partner to the client, ensuring measurable business outcomes, proactive risk mitigation, and strong financial performance of the account. The Sr. CSM leads from the front — modeling ownership, accountability, and cross-functional alignment.
Duties / Responsibilities
- Acts as a senior customer advocate and strategic advisor, balancing client advocacy with business discipline.
- Owns executive and buyer-level relationships (economic buyers, sponsors, influencers).
- Builds strong relationships with key customer staff, account management, and Managed Services leadership.
- Leads high-level client engagement, including executive business reviews (QBRs/EBRs).
- Sets and resets expectations of service quality, availability, and timeliness — no surprises.
- Navigates conflict and escalation directly, respectfully, and early.
- Serves as the executive escalation point for critical incidents and heightened states.
- Participates in strategic planning sessions and executive briefings.
- Establishes a deep understanding of client business objectives, success metrics, and strategic priorities, and aligns managed services delivery to those outcomes.
- Establishes and executes strategic account plans aligned to client business priorities.
- Articulates and quantifies value delivered in business terms, connecting service performance to client KPIs and outcomes.
- Ensures compliance with Service Level Agreements and proactively manages risk.
- Maintains a proactive risk register and identifies early warning indicators.
- Leads recovery strategies when accounts enter a heightened or at-risk state.
- Manages Root Cause Analysis processes and participates in Priority events as needed.
- Works with clients and delivery teams to identify and implement service improvement plans.
- Translates customer requirements into prioritized service and project requests.
- Reports and communicates service operations and performance to relevant stakeholders.
- Ensures reports (incident, performance, billing) are delivered on agreed schedules.
- Owns account-level financial performance, including margin awareness.
- Accountable for retention, renewal strategy (beginning 12 months prior), expansion, and revenue growth.
- Drives growth through cross-sell, upsell, and PCR opportunities aligned to value realization.
- Partners with sales leadership to influence account growth strategy.
- Ensures true-ups and billing accuracy in partnership with finance.
- Understands contractual obligations and protects company interests.
- Drives alignment across client stakeholders and internal teams.
- Serves as an active member of the Change Advisory Board, ensuring changes are assessed, approved, communicated, implemented, and reviewed in a controlled manner.
- Ensures operational compliance and service governance standards are upheld.
- Serves as the primary coordination point across delivery, account, and client teams.
- Mentors and coaches Client Success Managers to develop leadership and service delivery skills.
- Drives strategic initiatives to improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
- Assists with development and continuous improvement of the services organization.
- Provides thought leadership in IT Service Management best practices.
- Results-driven and outcome-oriented — accountable for making things happen.
- Other duties as assigned
Leadership Principles in Action
- Seek First to Understand: Listen before responding. Ask questions before offering solutions. Context beats reaction every time.
- Assume Positive Intent: Start from the belief that teammates and clients are trying to do the right thing, even when things go wrong.
- Coachable: Open to feedback, willing to adjust, and committed to getting better — not proving you are right.
- Outcome-Oriented: Focused on client outcomes and business impact — not just tasks, tickets, or activity.
- Ownership Mentality: If it touches the client experience, it’s our problem to solve — no silos, no finger-pointing.
- Clear & Direct Communicators: Say the hard things early, respectfully, and clearly — internally and with clients.
- Don’t Win Individually by Losing Collectively: Build credibility by representing the company well — never at the expense of your teammates or delivery teams.
- Consistently Positive (Not Naïve): Optimistic, steady, and solutions-focused — even under pressure.
- Trust Builders: Reliable, prepared, and transparent. Do what you say you’ll do, every time.
- Be Curious: Genuinely interested in the client’s business, people, and priorities — not just the contract.
- Aligned as One Team: Success is shared. Wins are collective. Misses are learned from together.
Education and Experience
- Minimum Required – 5-7 years of IT Service Account Management or Service Delivery experience, including leadership responsibilities.
- ITIL Foundation Certification required; ITIL Intermediate or Expert preferred.
- PMP or equivalent project management certification strongly preferred.
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
- Preferred – Undergraduate degree and 2-4 years relevant experience preferred
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Good understanding of IT Service Management processes and procedures
- Good understanding of IT Project Management principles and techniques
- Good ability to manage change and engage team members
- Good ability to provide direction and leadership to others
- Good facilitation and communication skills
- Excellent presentation skills
- Ability to manage and escalate client issues
- Ability to react and adjust priorities of tasks
- Comfortable in communicating and interacting with C-level customer stakeholders
- Proficient in MS Office:
- MS Word – must be able to create and modify documents
- MS Excel – create and modify pivot tables, manipulate data, create charts and graphs
- MS Power Point – create and modify presentations
- Advanced understanding of IT Service Management and Project Management principles.
- Proven ability to lead teams and manage complex client relationships.
- Exceptional communication and executive presentation skills.
- Ability to influence stakeholders and drive strategic outcomes.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
Physical Requirements
- Performance of Essential Functions: Ability to safely and effectively perform all essential job functions listed herein while meeting established productivity and quality standards.
- Attendance: Ability to maintain regular and predictable attendance, consistent with ADA, FMLA, and other applicable requirements. Includes ability to safely and reliability travel to and from an office and/or client work site, as required.
- Work Environment: Ability to perform job duties at customer sites or in data center environments which may include:
- Standing, walking, bending, and lifting or moving equipment weight up to fifty (50) pounds.
- Working in areas with fluctuating temperatures, including warm and cold environments, both indoors and outdoors.
- Exposure to production environments that may include higher noise levels, bright lighting, and varying airflow.
- Manual Dexterity: Ability to use hands and fingers to handle, feel, or operate objects, tools, or controls, and reach with hands and arms, as needed.
- Communication Skills: Ability to hear, listen, and communicate clearly while performing job duties.
The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.
Why AHEAD:
Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.
We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.
USA Employment Benefits include:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k)
- Paid company holidays
- Paid time off
- Paid parental and caregiver leave
- Plus more! See benefits https://www.aheadbenefits.com/ for additional details.
Use of AI:
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.
If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at [email protected].
You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to apply for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview. Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.
