Senior Customer Success Manager, Strategic Accounts

At Element451, we’re transforming how colleges and universities engage, recruit, and enroll students with our AI-powered, all-in-one CRM and Admissions Marketing Platform (AMP)—a scalable, data-driven solution designed for modern higher education.

As a Senior Customer Success Manager, Strategic Accounts, you will take ownership of large, complex institutional partnerships, ensuring high adoption, retention, and expansion. You’ll act as the primary point of contact for key strategic accounts, overseeing contract execution, implementation, and long-term customer success. If you have a proven track record in enterprise customer success, strategic account management, and consultative growth strategies, this is an opportunity to make a significant impact. If you are a strategic, results-driven leader with a passion for managing high-value customer relationships we want to hear from you! 

What you’ll do:

Client Relationship Management:

• Foster strong relationships with clients and stakeholders as the primary point of contact, at both the school and state system level. 
• Partner with the client's core team to identify and prioritize their key needs and objectives.
• Provide strategic consulting for full-cycle student engagement, including personalized communication, targeted outreach campaigns, lead generation, and application management.
• Act as the point of contact for the System Office.

Contract Management:

• Oversee the implementation and management of the client’s contract across all participating schools to ensure positive customer satisfaction and adoption of Element451.

Project Management:

• Lead the day-to-day execution of client projects in collaboration with the project team (Customer Success Managers and Engagement Strategists).
• Monitor project activities, resourcing, and timelines to achieve successful conclusions.
• Develop and manage project plans in collaboration with the client's team.
• Ensure adherence to KPIs such as on-time delivery, NPS scores, and product usage.

Platform Implementation and Optimization:

• Conduct discovery sessions with clients and use the information for the implementation, setup, and configuration of the Element451 platform, including building student journeys, communication workflows, AI tools, and system integrations.
• Document current processes and map best practices for the desired future state, aligned with industry standards and regulatory requirements.
• Continuously optimize and make recommendations to improve the student journey, communication plans, and enrollment processes within the platform.

Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement:

• Conduct assessments of the institution's current recruitment and enrollment business  processes, identifying areas for improvement and adoption of best practices
• Provide regular updates, progress reports, and presentations to stakeholders on the project's status and outcomes.

Cross-functional Collaboration:

• Collaborate with the Customer Success Manager and Engagement Strategist.
• Work closely with internal teams, including sales, product development, and customer support, to ensure seamless service delivery.
• Maintain an updated resource schedule and provide regular reports and updates to leadership.

Managed Services Development:

• Development of Managed Services documentation, processes, and playbooks to include but not limited to Discovery and Requirements Gathering sessions, Current State Analysis, Client audits and Benchmarks, Future State Process Design frameworks.

What you should be great at:

• Building strong relationships with key clients
• Understanding clients' business needs and goals
• Developing and implementing strategic account plans
• Identifying opportunities for growth and expansion within accounts
• Ensuring customer satisfaction and retention
• Collaborating with internal teams to drive customer success
• Communicating effectively with clients at all levels
• Analyzing data and metrics to track progress and outcomes
• Providing leadership and guidance to junior team members
• Staying current on industry trends and best practices

What you'll need:

• A team player with a minimum of 7 years in a customer-facing role, ideally in SaaS environments.
• Proven track record of success in managing and growing high-value, strategic accounts.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Excellent communication, relationship management, and presentation skills.
• Experience with customer success methodologies and tools (e.g., Salesforce, Gainsight) a plus.
• Strategic thinking and ability to develop and execute winning customer success plans.
• Passion for building trust and exceeding customer expectations.
• Bachelor’s degree required