Customer Success DirectorTeam: Customer SuccessLocation: [NYC / SF / Seattle / London] - HybridReports to: VP, Customer Success or CROAbout the RoleWe are looking for a Customer Success Director to build and lead a customer success motion that helps Lightning AI customers adopt faster, expand with confidence, and renew because the product has become mission-critical. This role is both strategic and hands-on: you will lead people, own customer outcomes, create durable systems, and partner across Revenue, Product, Engineering, and Support to make success repeatable.
What You'll Do- Lead and develop a team of Customer Success Managers and/or Technical Account Managers supporting strategic and growth customers.
- Own customer health, adoption, gross retention, expansion influence, renewal readiness, and executive relationship quality across your segment.
- Build scalable CS operating rhythms, including onboarding, success planning, EBRs, health scoring, renewal forecasting, escalation management, and expansion handoffs.
- Partner with Sales leadership to create a strong post-sale commercial motion that drives retention and identifies expansion opportunities early.
- Work closely with Product and Engineering to translate customer patterns into roadmap feedback, prioritization signals, and product improvements.
- Create a customer success culture that is proactive, technically curious, commercially aware, and highly accountable.
- Inspect at-risk accounts, coach customer-facing teams through difficult situations, and help turn escalations into stronger long-term relationships.
- Develop repeatable playbooks for technical onboarding, use-case expansion, executive engagement, renewal preparation, and adoption acceleration.
What We're Looking For- 8+ years in customer success, account management, technical account management, or post-sales leadership, including 3+ years managing teams.
- Experience leading CS motions for technical, enterprise, or consumption-based products.
- Strong understanding of retention, expansion, adoption, health scoring, renewal forecasting, and executive stakeholder management.
- Ability to operate strategically while staying close to customers, account details, and team execution.
- Experience working cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Engineering, Support, Marketing, and Revenue Operations.
- Strong communication and executive presence with customers and internal leadership.
- Comfort building systems from scratch in a company that is scaling quickly.
Nice-to-Haves- Experience in AI, cloud infrastructure, developer platforms, MLOps, data infrastructure, or enterprise SaaS.
- Experience with usage-based revenue, cloud consumption, or complex technical onboarding.
- Experience building a CS function through a high-growth stage.
- Familiarity with ML teams, research organizations, platform engineering teams, or infrastructure buying centers.
Why Lightning AI- You will help define how companies build and scale real AI systems, not just sell another generic software product.
- You will work with technical customers and teammates who care about speed, clarity, craft, and direct problem-solving.
- You will join a company with developer credibility, infrastructure ambition, and a GTM motion that is still early enough to shape.
We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.
The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:
$200,000-$250,000 USD
Benefits and PerksWe offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees' health, well-being, and long-term success:
- Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
- Meaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.
- Retirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).
- Flexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.
- Company-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.
- Paid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.
- Professional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.
- Wellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.
- Sabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.
- Flexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.
- In-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.
Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.
