Director, Customer Success

TENEX.AI; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

TENEX.AI is seeking a Director of Customer Success to lead our customer success management team, own retention and expansion, and scale our CS function as our customer base grows.

You will be the connective tissue between CS and delivery functions, coaching CSMs, managing escalations, and building playbooks that translate security outcomes into measurable business value for our clients.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading Customer Success (or post-sales delivery) teams in a B2B SaaS environment.
• Track record of owning retention and expansion metrics (GRR/NRR).
• Strong executive presence with CISOs and security/business leaders.
• Experience building and scaling processes in high-growth or startup settings.
• Data-driven approach to health, risk, and prioritization.
• Excellent cross-functional partnership with technical delivery teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and grow a team of Customer Success Managers.
• Own gross retention, net retention, and time-to-value across the portfolio.
• Operationalize CS motions and health-scoring frameworks for scalable engagement.
• Lead QBR/EBR conversations and CISOs-level relationships.
• Partner with FDE, Detection Engineering, Threat Intel, SOC, Sales, and Product.
• Manage escalations and drive durable process improvements.
• Scale the CS operating system with plays, cadences, tooling, and onboarding.

Skills

Leadership

Retention growth

Executive presence

Cross-functional partnership

Data-driven decision making

Job description

Company Overview:

TENEX is an AI-native, automation-first, built-for-scale Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider. We are a force multiplier for defenders, helping organizations enhance their cybersecurity posture through advanced threat detection, rapid response, and continuous protection. Our team is composed of industry experts with deep experience in cybersecurity, automation and AI-driven solutions. Backed by leading investors, we are rapidly growing and seeking top talent to join our mission of revolutionizing the AI-Native MDR landscape.

We’re a fast growing startup backed by industry experts and top tier investors led by Crosspoint Capital Partners and also backed by Shield Capital, DTCP (formerly Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners), Deepwork Capital, and the Florida Opportunity Fund. Seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). As an early employee, you’ll play a meaningful role in defining and building our culture. Get in on the ground floor. We’re a small but well-funded team that just raised a substantial round – joining now comes with limited risk and unlimited upside.

Culture is one of the most important things at TENEX.AI—explore our culture deck at culture.tenex.ai to witness how we embody it, prioritizing the irreplaceable collaboration and community of in-person work.

About the Role

We're hiring a Director of Customer Success to lead our CSM team and own the outcomes our customers realize once they're live. This is both a leadership role and a builder role: you'll run the team day to day — coaching CSMs, managing escalations, and owning retention and expansion — while continuing to scale the function's people, processes, and playbooks as our customer base grows.

You’ll be a force multiplier for a team of Customer Success Managers, the connective tissue between CS and the technical delivery functions (FDE, Detection Engineering, SOC), and a trusted executive presence for our customers' security and business leaders. Success in this role is measured in retained and expanded revenue, faster time-to-value, and customers who can see the value we deliver — not just receive it.

Key Responsibilities

• Team leadership & development: Lead, coach, and grow a team of Customer Success Managers. Set clear expectations, run a strong performance and development cadence, and build a culture of proactive, outcome-focused ownership.

• Customer outcomes & retention: Own gross retention (GRR), net retention (NRR), and time-to-value across the portfolio. Drive the health of every account and intervene early where signals point to risk.

• Delivery of the engagement model: Operationalize our segmented CS motions and health-scoring framework so every customer gets the right engagement for their tier — and so the team scales without linear headcount growth.

• Executive & stakeholder relationships: Coach the team on (and personally lead, where needed) QBR/EBR conversations and CISO-level relationships that translate detection and response work into business value.

• Cross-functional delivery: Partner tightly with FDE, Detection Engineering, Threat Intel, and the SOC to make sure security outcomes land — and with Sales and Product to feed the customer voice back into the roadmap and GTM.

• Escalation management: Be the steady hand on escalations: structure the response, drive resolution, and turn incidents into durable process improvements.

• Scaling the function: Continue building the CS operating system — plays, cadences, tooling, onboarding, and enablement — so the team gets sharper and more repeatable as we grow.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading Customer Success (or post-sales delivery) teams in a B2B SaaS environment, including hiring, coaching, and performance management.

• A track record of owning retention and expansion metrics (GRR/NRR) and driving them through a team.

• Strong executive presence — comfortable in the room with CISOs and security/business leaders, and able to translate technical work into business outcomes.

• Experience building and scaling process in a high-growth or startup environment; you're as comfortable creating the playbook as running it.

• Data-driven approach to health, risk, and prioritization.

• Excellent cross-functional partnership skills, especially with technical delivery teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Domain experience in cybersecurity, MDR/MSSP, SecOps, or SIEM/detection engineering.

• Familiarity with Google SecOps or comparable security platforms.

• Experience standing up or scaling a CS function from an early stage.

• Background operating in environments with compliance requirements (e.g., FedRAMP), including any associated personnel/access constraints.