Team Lead, Customer Success Management

Introduction

The Customer Success Management (CSM) team at Optimizely serves as the customer’s advocate, with a strong focus on satisfaction, retention, and uncovering new opportunities to expand our relationships with customers and partners. As part of the CSM team, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring customers successfully adopt Optimizely by engaging with them at all key points of their lifecycle. As Team Lead, you will also support the CSM team on a daily basis, providing guidance and advice to help them succeed.

We are seeking a driven, proactive professional to join our CSM team as Team Lead. The ideal candidate will act as a player-coach, delivering mentorship, coaching, and operational support to a team of Customer Success Managers. The Team Lead will champion the team’s mission of helping customers adopt and realize the full value of Optimizely’s product portfolio—ultimately driving retention and revenue growth—by serving as a trusted advisor and expert guide throughout the entire customer journey.

Highly organized and technically strong, the ideal candidate is a people-focused professional—confident, articulate, and empathetic—who understands and addresses the needs of customers, partners, and team members alike. A passion for client services and a strong desire to deliver exceptional results are essential.

Job Responsibilities

This role is split 50/50 between Team Lead responsibilities and Customer Success Manager responsibilities.

As Team Lead (Player-Coach):

Empower the CSM team to deliver exceptional, “white glove” customer service as trusted business advisors throughout the entire customer journey.

Act as the escalation point for the CSM team, handling complex customer conversations with tact and professionalism.

Provide overflow support and capacity to the team when needed.

Actively coach team members on best practices, customer engagement strategies, and professional development.

Conduct regular 1:1 coaching sessions, driving personal growth and challenging the team to achieve their highest potential.

Serve as an ambassador for the CSM team across the organization, partnering closely with Onboarding, Marketing, Partner, Sales, and Product teams.

Collaborate with your manager and CS leadership to incorporate feedback, implement process improvements, and drive operational excellence.

Contribute to departmental OKRs for the Global CSM team.

Develop and maintain internal and external documentation to support both the team and wider organization.

Support the onboarding of new team members by managing training content, shadowing schedules, and buddy assignments.

Occasionally work outside of regular business hours to support global initiatives.

As Customer Success Manager:

Manage a portfolio of customers and partners throughout their entire lifecycle with Optimizely.

Report on customer health, identifying at-risk accounts, churn indicators, and upsell opportunities to the management team.

Conduct regular check-ins and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) with customers, supporting team members as needed.

Proactively manage renewals, provide accurate renewal forecasting, and support the team in driving retention.

Represent the CSM team at client-facing meetings and travel when required.

Optimize the use of CRM and CSM tools to track KPIs, customer information, and promote best practices across the team.

Maintain outstanding client retention rates by delivering proactive and value-driven customer engagement.

Continuously develop knowledge of Optimizely’s products and industry trends, sharing insights with the broader CSM team.

Knowledge and Experience

• Proven top performer within a Customer Success Management team, consistently delivering strong outcomes.
• Proficiency in Salesforce, Gainsight, and other CRM/CSM tools, with a track record of leveraging data and insights to manage accounts, track KPIs, and drive retention.
• Experience with A/B testing, experimentation, and statistical methodologies is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with Optimizely’s platform and ecosystem is a strong plus.
• Comprehensive knowledge of customer success best practices, with the ability to apply them to complex assignments.
• Expertise in specific features, processes, or programs within the CSM function, with the ability to act as a subject matter expert.
• Demonstrated experience mentoring, coaching, or leading junior or entry-level team members.
• Strong business acumen, with an understanding of how team performance impacts immediate stakeholder groups and overall business outcomes.
• Ability to break down deliverables into clear, actionable steps and drive them to completion—individually and through the team.
• Deeply customer-centric mindset, consistently focused on delivering value and maintaining strong relationships.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to handle complex situations and conversations with customers and colleagues.

Education

Bachelors degree with 5+ years of experience