Staff Customer Success Manager, UK

KONG; Greater London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Kong is seeking a Staff/Senior Customer Success Manager to set the standard in its CS organization. You will drive adoption, expansion, and risk mitigation through strategic post-sales execution, blending technical know-how with an executive mindset.

You will lead value-based engagements, map complex customer organizations, and leverage partners to expand influence. Strong English required; French/German/Spanish skills are a plus. Kong HQ is the AI Connectivity Company.

Qualifications

• Experience driving strategic customer success via post-sales processes and renewal management.
• Ability to map customer organizations and identify key stakeholders across complex entities.
• Proven track record in value realization and executive-level communication.

Responsibilities

• Drive Strategic Customer Success with comprehensive success plans and roadmaps.
• Lead value-based engagements to demonstrate Kong’s impact on customer business outcomes.
• Map customer organizations to identify champions and decision-makers.
• Collaborate with partners to uncover new personas and expand stakeholder alignment.
• Use metrics and tools (Tableau, SFDC, Clari, Hex) to monitor health and extract insights.
• Conduct impactful QBRs/EBRs with an executive-facing approach.
• Articulate the unique value of Kong components to customers.
• Manage renewals and forecast alongside the account team.

Skills

Grit & Determination

Curiosity

Team-Oriented Mindset

Prioritisation

Tools

Tableau

SFDC

Clari

Hex

Job description

Are you ready to unlock intelligence?

If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

Staff Customer Success Manager

About the Role:

As a Staff/Senior Customer Success Manager, you will set the standard of what great looks like in our CS organisation. You will master your craft by focusing on the disciplined execution of the Customer Post-Sales Process, directly driving adoption, expansion, and risk mitigation. This role is strategic, requiring you to blend technical knowledge with an executive mindset to deliver exceptional business value.

What You'll Do:

• Drive Strategic Customer Success: Develop comprehensive success plans covering use cases, roadmaps, and positive business outcomes.

• Value realization: Take customers through a value-based engagement model, and gain a clear understanding of Kong’s impact on their business.

• Navigate Complex Organizations: Map customer organizations by building power and influence charts to identify key champions and decision-makers.

• Leverage Partner Ecosystems: Utilize partners to uncover new personas within the customer organization and expand stakeholder alignment.

• Harness Data & Analytics: Use utilization metrics, Leading Indicators, and tools like Tableau, SFDC, Clari, and Hex to monitor health, identify risks, and extract actionable insights.

• Master the Message: Run impactful QBRs/EBRs by adopting an executive mindset, clearly articulating the value of the Kong platform in alignment with the customer’s business needs.

• Command the Platform: Confidently articulate the unique value of Kong's components (Dedicated Cloud Gateway, API Gateway, AI Gateway, Mesh Manager, etc.).

• Manage Renewals & Forecasting: Collaborate closely with the broader account team to validate renewal timelines, surface cross-sell opportunities, and maintain strong SFDC hygiene

What You’ll Bring:

• Grit & Determination: Customer obsession and the resilience to bounce back from setbacks, relentlessly pursuing customer goals and overcoming issues.

• Curiosity: An inquisitive mindset paired with active listening and probing skills to ask layered, open-ended questions that uncover root causes.

• Team-Oriented Mindset: A deeply collaborative approach to achieving shared company goals, rather than focusing solely on individual wins.

• Prioritisation: Experience managing multiple customers at a time while focusing on attention to detail and delivering results across multiple initiatives, such as driving expansion, customer satisfaction, feature adoption, and retention.

• Languages: Fluent English is essential, fluency in French, German or Spanish is highly beneficial.

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About Kong:

Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com.