Customer Success Manager

SUMMARY:

Customer Success Manager

About the Role

POSITION INFO:

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic point of contact for key higher education institutions across South Africa and the SADC region
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders, including Vice Chancellors, Registrars, CIOs, Deans, Rectors, and ICT Directors
• Develop and execute Customer Success Plans aligned with each institution's strategic objectives
• Conduct Executive Business Reviews (EBRs) and Strategic Success Reviews with customer leadership teams
• Drive customer adoption, utilisation, and value realisation of the SIS platform
• Monitor customer health, success metrics, and institutional outcomes to proactively identify risks and opportunities
• Ensure high customer retention, renewal, satisfaction, and long-term partnership growth
• Identify expansion and upselling opportunities across SIS modules and services in collaboration with Sales teams
• Provide strategic advisory support on student lifecycle management and digital transformation initiatives
• Present customer insights, usage analytics, ROI, and value reports to executive stakeholders
• Act as the bridge between customer strategy and internal Product, Implementation, Support, and Development teams
• Coordinate resolution of escalated strategic customer issues while operational support remains with dedicated Support teams
• Capture customer feedback and advocate for product enhancements and roadmap improvements
• Develop customer champions, reference institutions, success stories, and community engagement initiatives across the SADC region
• Participate in higher education conferences, user groups, advisory boards, and strategic customer engagement activities
• For Director level: build and lead the Customer Success function, establish scalable frameworks and processes, mentor Customer Success Managers, and define regional customer success standards and performance metrics

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Education, Education Technology, or a related field
• Master's or postgraduate qualification is advantageous
• Minimum 5 years of experience in customer success, account management, enterprise software, or a similar customer-facing role
• Experience working with higher education institutions or public sector clients
• Experience in SaaS, ERP, SIS, or enterprise software environments
• Experience managing strategic customer relationships and senior stakeholders
• Certifications in Customer Success, IT Service Management, Account Management, or related areas will be advantageous

Skills & Attributes

• Strong understanding of higher education operations, processes, and governance
• Strong knowledge of Student Information Systems (SIS) and Education ERP platforms
• Understanding of student lifecycle processes, including admissions, registration, examinations, graduation, and alumni management
• Strong strategic account management and customer success skills
• Excellent executive stakeholder management and relationship-building skills
• Strong understanding of SaaS and enterprise software environments
• Ability to translate technology capabilities into measurable customer and institutional outcomes
• Strong commercial acumen with an understanding of retention, renewals, expansion, and upselling
• Excellent presentation, facilitation, and business communication skills
• Strong negotiation, conflict resolution, and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and leadership skills
• Ability to analyse customer health, adoption, utilisation, and success metrics
• Strong customer advocacy and relationship management skills
• Excellent strategic thinking and decision-making abilities
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
• Ability to manage complex stakeholder environments and multiple strategic accounts
• Knowledge of ERP, CRM, LMS, and integrated education technology platforms is advantageous
• Familiarity with South African and SADC higher education environments
• Additional language skills are advantageous

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Customer retention and renewal rates
• Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Product adoption and utilisation rates
• Customer health scores
• Expansion and upsell revenue
• Executive engagement frequency and quality
• Achievement of defined customer success outcomes
• Growth in customer advocacy and reference accounts

What's On Offer

• Ongoing professional development and learning support
• Exposure to pioneering and innovative projects
• Global opportunities to work on international assignments
• Competitive, best of breed compensation
• A five day working week supporting healthy work life balance
• An open door policy where ideas and feedback are genuinely welcomed