Principal Customer Success Manager

Clutch Canada; United States; On-site; USD 125,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

SailPoint in the United States is seeking a Principal Customer Success Manager to act as a senior strategic partner for our most complex, high-value customers. You will drive customer value, influence product direction, and mentor the CS team while expanding strategic relationships.

You will collaborate with Product, Sales, Support, and Marketing to ensure measurable business outcomes and long-term customer success across enterprises, with travel up to 10–25%.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Customer Success, Account Management, or Strategic Consulting.
• Proven track record managing enterprise accounts and delivering measurable business value.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, and executive presence.
• Experience cross-functionally with Product, Support, Sales, and Engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives, mentor peers, and influence at all organizational levels.
• Familiarity with tools like Salesforce, Gainsight, or similar customer success platforms.
• Industry expertise relevant to our customer base.

Responsibilities

• Own executive relationships and success planning for a portfolio of strategic accounts.
• Partner with customers to define success metrics, drive adoption, and ensure long-term satisfaction and retention.
• Act as a trusted advisor, providing insights that align our solutions with customers’ business goals.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives to scale best practices across the CS organization.
• Develop frameworks, playbooks, and templates to improve customer engagement and outcomes.
• Represent Customer Success in product feedback loops, contributing to roadmap discussions.
• Coach and mentor other CSMs to build capabilities in strategic thinking and engagement.
• Serve as a role model and informal leader to drive a culture of excellence.

Skills

Executive presence

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic account management

Customer success leadership

Salesforce

Gainsight

SaaS enterprise software

Tools

Salesforce

Gainsight

CRM tools

Job description

As a Principal Customer Success Manager (Principal CSM), you will serve as a senior strategic partner to our most complex and high-value customers, while also acting as a thought leader and mentor within the Customer Success organization. This role extends beyond traditional account management—you will be responsible for driving customer value, influencing product direction, and establishing best practices.

You will collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders in Product, Sales, Support, and Marketing to ensure that our customers achieve measurable business outcomes and long-term success.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Customer Management

  • Own executive relationships and success planning for a portfolio of strategic accounts.

  • Partner with customers to define success metrics, drive adoption, and ensure long-term satisfaction and retention.

  • Act as a trusted advisor, providing insights that align our solutions with customers’ business goals.

• Thought Leadership & Best Practices

  • Lead cross-functional initiatives to scale best practices across the Customer Success organization.

  • Develop frameworks, playbooks, and templates to improve customer engagement and outcomes.

  • Represent Customer Success in product feedback loops, contributing to roadmap discussions.

• Mentorship & Leadership

  • Coach and mentor other CSMs to build capabilities in strategic thinking, customer engagement, and influence.

  • Serve as a role model and informal leader within the team, driving a culture of excellence and collaboration.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Customer Success, Account Management, or Strategic Consulting, preferably in SaaS or enterprise software.

• Proven track record of managing complex, enterprise-level accounts and delivering measurable business value.

• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, and executive presence skills.

• Experience working cross-functionally with Product, Support, Sales, and Engineering teams.

• Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives, mentor peers, and influence at all levels of an organization.

• Strong business acumen and problem-solving skills.

• Familiarity with tools like Salesforce, Gainsight, or similar customer success platforms.

• Industry expertise relevant to our customer base

The Path to Success

30 Day Milestones

• Upon completing SailPoint specific trainings, understanding the SailPoint products, core value, features, and use cases

• Demonstrate proficiency in SailPoint’s CRM tool, and articulating the value of Success Plans in delivering customer results.

• Stakeholder Mapping: After meeting with key stakeholders (cross-functional and within the Customer Success Department), create and present a stakeholder map to demonstrate your understanding of how to maximize partnerships and collaboration workflows, including defining each member's role and responsibilities within accounts.

60 Day Milestones

• Opportunity Identification: Identify adoption and expansion opportunities in 1-2 accounts using data-driven insights and present a mock QBR use case to leadership.

• Account Prioritization: Demonstrate customer prioritization by categorizing your assigned accounts based on their needs, health score, and product maturity, then devise a tailored cadence of touchpoints based on this prioritization.

• Portfolio Analysis: Complete a thorough account review for 5 accounts using Gainsight data to demonstrate an understanding of success plans for key accounts, analyzing customer health and churn risk.

90 Day Milestones

• Sales Alignment: Identify and draft a plan of how to engage with Sales for an example of upsell, cross-sell, and expansion within one key existing account, along with expected close dates and a plan to translate that into a qualified lead.

• Risk Sensing: Be fully able to identify renewal and forecasting risks across your book of business.

• Strategic Courage: Demonstrate courage by asking uncomfortable, difficult, or "big" questions to both internal teams and customers to drive progress.

Travel:

• Estimated from 10% to 25%

Benefits and Compensation listed vary based on the location of your employment and the nature of your employment with SailPoint.

As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the SailPoint Corporate Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission, along with potential eligibility for equity participation. SailPoint maintains broad salary ranges for its roles to account for variations in knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions and locations, as well as reflect SailPoint’s differing products, industries, and lines of business. Candidates are typically placed into the range based on the preceding factors as well as internal peer equity. We estimate the base salary, for US-based employees, will be in this range from (min-max, USD):

$124,500 - $209,804.00

Base salaries for employees based in other locations are competitive for the employee’s home location.

Benefits Overview

1. Health and wellness coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance

2. Disability coverage: Short-term and long-term disability

3. Life protection: Life insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)

4. Additional life coverage options: Supplemental life insurance for employees, spouses, and children

5. Flexible spending accounts for health care, and dependent care; limited purpose flexible spending account

6. Financial security: 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan with company matching

7. Time off benefits: Flexible vacation policy

8. Holidays: 8 paid holidays annually

9. Sick leave

10. Parental support: Paid parental leave

11. Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Care Counselors

12. Voluntary benefits: Legal Assistance, Critical Illness, Accident, Hospital Indemnity and Pet Insurance options

13. Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution

SailPoint is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome all qualified candidates to apply to join our team. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.