Director, Customer Success

Job Description

Position Overview – Director, Customer Success

The Director of Customer Success in a Geo is responsible for building, leading and developing a high-performing, expert team of Customer Success Managers (CSMs) charged with ensuring the promotion, adoption and utilization of Teradata solutions by our customers. The position is also responsible for the business management of the renewal lifecycle for the Geo

Our CSMs are highly respected for their knowledge, skills and empathy to help our customers’ drive business value from their Teradata investments, which are increasingly being served through a SaaS model and deployed in a Cloud environment. Our customers rank among the largest and most successful in their industry, including leading financial institutions, manufacturers, automotive companies, Telco’s, retailers, airlines, major government entities and others.

You’ll be leading a team helping our customers become successful on achieving the desired outcomes, through the use of analytical solutions to their business challenges. The Customer Success team operate as trusted advisors focused on ensuring our customers get access to the best knowledge of our solutions, architectures, technical detail and delivery experience. This focus ensures success for the customer and for the Teradata brand. The Customer Success team establishes and enhances customer relationships that promote retention and loyalty through the delivery of technical and business expertise. The team links other Teradata experts to assist customers in getting the maximum value out of their investment in Teradata.

These efforts ultimately ensure there are no challenges with securing the critical renewals business that the Geo Director will be responsible for, with a team of renewal experts in the Customer Success team.

As the leader of the Customer Success team, you will thrive on teamwork, ensuring your team works closely with our Account Executives, Business Consultants, Solution Engineers, Delivery Consultants and the extended Services & Support organizations. You will also be in close cooperation with System Integrators (SI) and local Consulting Partners that deliver consulting and Teradata delivery services to your customers.

The Customer Success Director is responsible for coaching, developing, and supporting the Customer Success team reporting into him/her. You are furthermore expected to be personally involved in the most strategic and high potential customer success activities within the Geo, building trust with key decision makers and supporting the Customer Success team building and executing actionable Customer Success plans in their accounts.

The Customer Success Director reports directly to the VP Customer Success for APJ and indirectly to the Geo Sales VP. The Customer Success Director is a member of the Geo LT as well as the APJ Customer Success LT.

In summary, if your passion is for real, deliverable solutions to some of the biggest data challenges in the world matches ours, and what we’ve said appeals to your ambitions, we want to hear from you.

What you will be doing...

• Actively contribute to the Customer Success Strategy for APJ:
• developing strategies that increase the effectiveness of the Customer Success function and organisation in your Geo and broader in APJ based on the field execution experience
• implementing a team of CSMs focused on high-touch customers in your Geo
• expanding the Customer Success organisation beyond high-touch customers, to low and digital touch customers.
• defining the service levels and resources necessary to satisfy those service levels (High-touch, low-touch and digital touch).
• Lead the execution of the Customer Success Strategy of APJ in your geo
• running initiatives to test and deploy new capabilities and tools as well as providing feedback and highlighting opportunities for further development
• running field programs to ensure high quality execution of field activities, such as driving satisfaction surveys, specific training motions, planning cycles
• coordinating the renewals strategy and execution to avoid and/or reduce erosions and cancelations.
• Lead and develop a motivated and mutually supporting team of CSMs based in your Geo, who are passionate about ensuring Teradata Customers gain business success through the adoption of Teradata products and services
• Manage and secure renewals for your geo with a team of renewal experts
• Develop and deploy effective revenue and Customer retention strategies for projected cancellations and erosions
• Make sure that the CSMs in your reporting line are assigned to appropriate customer accounts and assist them in developing a “trusted advisor” status with key client stakeholders
• Support the CSMs in their development of Customer Success plans that map out strategies, activities, metrics and responsibilities that drive consumption of Teradata solutions and services, and that help their customers overcome adoption challenges
• Review and approve the Customer Success plans and assist with the presentation of the plan to the customer where needed
• Ensure that other functions and stakeholders throughout the Teradata organization are engaged when needed to ensure customers are even more successful
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Customer Success Managers in their reporting line against the requirements of the accounts to which they are assigned and design and execute appropriate development plans
• Establish team and individual objectives, and assign responsibilities among your team members; you will monitor and periodically assess the performance of your team members against these objectives
• Make sure that know-how and skills of your team are shared with peers and colleagues throughout the organization
• Provide guidance and support to your CSMs, for them to successfully navigate and leverage the entire Teradata organization as it relates to the role they are playing for their customer
• Take the initiative to keep both your own and your team’s skills up to date
• Lead and execute recruiting processes for open positions in your team as well as creating onboarding plans for new hires to your team.

What skills are needed for ideal candidates

• Excellent organizational and cross-culture people skills that enable a passionate and enthusiastic leader to manage, coach and develop a team of senior employees
• Have a proven track record as a people manager
• Preferably experience in building and developing a Customer Success team and function driving software renewals and growth, and ideally for a Cloud / SaaS portfolio
• Experience in managing an opportunity pipeline to closure, ideally a renewals portfolio
• A clear, confident and persuasive communicator, who can make a clear and understandable logical argument and successfully defend their position
• Demonstrate ability to understand the customers’ needs and provide thought leadership to influence and build trust at different customer levels including senior/executive management, all leading to increased customer satisfaction
• Have a keen interest and understanding of developments in the data and analytic technology world, and how it contributes to business-value generation
• Have an excellent ability to multi-task and juggle priorities while ensuring you and the teams work life balance is respected
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and an ability to manage complexity and navigate a team in a frequently changing environment
• Insight into the Teradata offerings and service portfolio is a strong plus, as well as deep understanding of the customer’s business and industry
• A drive for alignment, collaboration and knowledge sharing throughout the organization
• Acknowledgement and experience in transformation processes, being able to lead change management initiatives
• Fostering an innovation culture that promotes new thinking and that enables continuous development and improvement of how we do business
• Be an active brand ambassador through brand marketing, postings, blogs, etc
• BS, MBA, or MS in business, technical or professional discipline or equivalent work experience.

Teradata is an equal opportunity employer in all aspects of our business. We are excited by the unique qualities, abilities and perspectives each person brings, and candidates are considered on all the fundamentals they may bring to the role and the team.

Grade and salary are commensurate with the demands of the role and based on skills and experience.

You will meet with customers and account teams in-person, and it is expected that there will be in the order of 40-50% Geo/APJ area international travel required. The role allows for working virtually and a degree of flexibility of working hours in line with the immediate needs of your customers and the account team.