Director, Adoption Strategy (Engagement Manager)

Ironclad; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 205,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Parental leave

Family forming support

Paid time off

Wellbeing stipend

Hybrid work stipend

Cell phone stipend

Mental health support

Commuter benefits

401(k) match

Team events

Job summary

Ironclad is seeking a Director of Adoption Strategy in San Francisco to lead the evolution and scale of our Adoption Strategy function across the customer lifecycle. You will integrate pre-sales and post-sales services into a cohesive journey, set performance standards, and partner with leaders across Sales, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, and Product.

You will guide evidence-based adoption, drive value realization, and build scalable methodologies with AI-enabled tooling to reduce

Qualifications

• 8+ years in professional services, implementation, customer success, or related customer-facing roles in enterprise software.
• Experience leading a functional team through managers, team leads, or senior ICs.
• Experience scaling or redesigning a services/adoption motion, not starting from zero.
• Strong commercial judgment including services selling, scoping, SOW development.
• Experience connecting proof-of-value, implementation, and adoption into a cohesive customer journey.
• SaaS/enterprise tech or CLM/legal tech experience and AI fluency.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Adoption Strategy team with clear expectations and performance standards.
• Operationalize and scale the Adoption Strategy operating model for consistency and velocity.
• Oversee pre‑sales services strategy including scoping, SOWs, and alignment with Sales.
• Set standards for proof‑of‑value motions and connect them to adoption outcomes.
• Provide oversight for implementation strategy post-deal and sustained adoption.
• Create governance and handoff protocols across the customer lifecycle.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional

Talent development

Operational scaling

Commercial judgment

SaaS experience

Executive communication

AI fluency

Job description

Ironclad is the leading AI contracting platform that transforms agreements into assets. Contracts move faster, insights surface instantly, and agents push work forward, all with you in control. Whether you’re buying or selling, Ironclad unifies the entire process on one intelligent platform, providing leaders with the visibility they need to stay one step ahead. That’s why the world’s most transformative organizations, from Rivian to the World Health Organization and the Associated Press, trust Ironclad to accelerate their business.

We’re consistently recognized as a leader in the industry: a Leader in the Forrester Wave and Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contract Lifecycle Management, a Fortune Great Place to Work, and one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Workplaces. Ironclad has also been named to Forbes’ AI 50 and Business Insider’s list of Companies to Bet Your Career On. We’re backed by leading investors including Accel, Y Combinator, Sequoia, BOND, and Franklin Templeton. For more information, visit www.ironcladapp.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

The Director, Adoption Strategy will lead the evolution and scale of Ironclad’s Adoption Strategy function across the customer lifecycle. This is an opportunity to build on strong, established work across presales services, proof-of-value, implementation planning, and post-sale adoption—and help shape how those experiences come together as Ironclad, our products, and our customer engagement model continue to evolve. In this cross-functional leadership role, you’ll connect pre‑sales and post‑sales professional services into a cohesive customer journey. You’ll help ensure that services strategy and scoping, proof‑of‑value execution, implementation design, and long‑term adoption planning are coordinated around clear customer outcomes and a path to lasting value. As the functional leader and second‑line manager for Adoption Strategy, you’ll set the team’s direction, operating model, quality bar, and performance standards while leading through managers and senior practitioners. You’ll also provide executive oversight for complex customer engagements and serve as a trusted partner to the VP of Customer Value and leaders across Sales, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Professional Services, Product, and other cross‑functional teams. This role is ideal for a leader who enjoys bringing clarity to complexity, developing teams, and creating the systems and partnerships that help customers realize more value from Ironclad.

What You Will Be Doing:

• Lead and develop the Adoption Strategy team, including managers and senior individual contributors; establish clear expectations, coaching practices, career paths, and performance standards.
• Operationalize and scale the Adoption Strategy operating model, building on existing motions and methodologies while improving consistency, quality, velocity, and repeatability.
• Oversee the team’s role in pre‑sales services strategy, including services selling, solution shaping, scoping, entitlement decisions, SOW development, and alignment with Sales and Solution Engineering.
• Establish the standards for proof‑of‑value motions, ensuring that customer objectives, success criteria, delivery plans, and conversion paths are clearly defined and connected to longer‑term adoption outcomes.
• Provide oversight for implementation strategy and execution after a deal closes, ensuring continuity from proof of value through implementation and into foundational and sustained adoption.
• Create clear operating mechanisms across the customer lifecycle, including adoption stage definitions, engagement criteria, handoff protocols, governance forums, escalation paths, and accountability between Adoption Strategy and adjacent teams.
• Serve as a senior escalation leader for complex or at‑risk customer engagements, providing executive coverage and helping teams navigate commercial, delivery, product, and adoption challenges.
• Define and own the function’s performance framework, including measures such as proof‑of‑value conversion, quality of services scoping, implementation transition quality, time to foundational adoption, adoption milestone achievement, customer value realization, and team capacity.
• Partner with the VP of Customer Value and peer functional leaders to evolve the broader Customer Value operating model, ensuring that Adoption Strategy is integrated with implementation consulting, customer success, platform support, and partner motions.
• Continuously improve the team’s methodologies, tooling, and use of AI to reduce manual coordination, improve decision quality, and accelerate customer time‑to‑value.

What We Are Looking For:

• 8+ years of experience in professional services, implementation, customer success, solution consulting, or related customer‑facing functions within an enterprise software company.
• Demonstrated experience across both pre‑sales and post‑sales professional services. Leadership experience on both sides is ideal; deep individual contributor or practitioner experience across both sides is also relevant.
• Experience leading a functional team through managers, team leads, and/or senior individual contributors, with a track record of developing talent and raising the quality bar.
• Experience operationalizing, scaling, or significantly redesigning an existing services, implementation, adoption, or customer value motion—not only building a function from zero.
• Strong commercial judgment, including experience with services selling, solution shaping, scoping, SOW development, and balancing customer outcomes with business economics.
• Demonstrated ability to connect proof‑of‑value, implementation, and adoption into a cohesive customer journey with clear ownership and measurable outcomes.
• A strong conviction that customer adoption and value realization are the right measures of post‑sales success, with examples of orienting teams around those outcomes.
• Operationally rigorous and comfortable creating structure while maintaining strong day‑to‑day execution across a complex customer portfolio.
• Executive presence and communication skills, with the ability to influence Sales, Product, Professional Services, Customer Success, and senior customer stakeholders.
• Experience in SaaS, enterprise technology, CLM, legal technology, or an adjacent complex solution environment.
• Sufficient AI fluency to make sound methodology and delivery decisions as Ironclad’s products and commercial models evolve.

Base Salary Range: $205,000 - $230,000

The base salary range represents the minimum and maximum of the salary range for this position based at our San Francisco headquarters. The actual base salary offered for this position will depend on numerous factors, including individual proficiency, anticipated performance, and the location of the selected candidate. Our base salary is just one component of Ironclad’s competitive total rewards package, which also includes equity awards (a new hire grant, along with opportunities for additional awards throughout your tenure), competitive health and wellness benefits, and a commitment to career growth and development.

US Full‑Time Employee Benefits at Ironclad:

• 100% health coverage for employees (medical, dental, and vision), and 75% coverage for dependents with buy‑up plan options available
• Market‑leading leave policies, including gender‑neutral parental leave and compassionate leave
• Family forming support through Maven for you and your partner
• Paid time off - take the time you need, when you need it
• Monthly stipends for wellbeing, hybrid work, and (if applicable) cell phone use
• Mental health support through Modern Health, including therapy, coaching, and digital tools
• Pre‑tax commuter benefits (US Employees)
• 401(k) plan with Fidelity with employer match (US Employees)
• Regular team events to connect, recharge, and have fun
• And most importantly: the opportunity to help build the company you want to work at
• UK Employee‑specific benefits are included on our UK job postings

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Compensation Range: $205K - $230K