Senior Customer Success Manager - VIP Accounts

Basware; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Basware in Chicago seeks a Senior Customer Success Manager to lead a portfolio of North America enterprise customers, acting as a trusted advisor to executives and driving value realization, adoption, retention, renewals, and growth.

You will partner with Product, Sales, Support, and Professional Services to align Basware solutions—from procure-to-pay to ERP—with strategic business outcomes, build ROI cases, track health metrics, and ensure long-term partnerships.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Customer Success or similar post-sales role.
• Enterprise SaaS, business software, or digital transformation experience.
• Proven ability to engage senior executives and lead strategic conversations.
• Experience building ROI models, business cases, or value realization frameworks.
• Demonstrated success driving adoption, retention, expansion, and satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of North America’s largest enterprise customers.
• Build trusted relationships with CFOs, Finance Directors, Procurement Leaders, and other executives.
• Act as the primary strategic advisor throughout the customer lifecycle.
• Lead executive business reviews, strategic planning sessions, and value realization discussions.
• Develop and execute customer success plans aligned to measurable business outcomes.
• Help customers identify, track, and communicate ROI from technology investments.
• Create value stories and business cases demonstrating operational, financial, and strategic impact.
• Drive adoption of enterprise software solutions and monitor health, engagement, and outcomes.
• Identify risks proactively and develop mitigation plans to improve customer success.
• Lead renewal planning and identify opportunities for expansion.
• Collaborate with Sales on account planning and growth initiatives.
• Support customer advocacy programs including references and case studies.

Skills

Executive presence

Strategic relationships

ROI modeling

Value realization

Executive communications

Data-driven

Job description

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Customer Success Manager to join our North America Customer Success organization supporting a portfolio of our most strategic enterprise customers. This individual will serve as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders, driving customer value realization, adoption, retention, renewals, and long-term partnership growth.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience working within enterprise SaaS organizations focused on finance transformation, procurement, source-to-pay, procure-to-pay, accounts payable automation, ERP, business process automation, or related technology solutions. We are particularly interested in candidates who have spent their careers helping large organizations quantify business value, build ROI cases, drive adoption, and cultivate executive relationships.

This role is designed for a highly consultative professional who is comfortable operating at both the strategic and operational level, partnering with customer executives while collaborating internally across Product, Sales, Support, Professional Services, and Leadership teams.

What You'll Do

Executive Customer Leadership

• Manage a small portfolio of North America's largest and most strategic enterprise customers.
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders including CFOs, Finance Directors, Procurement Leaders, Shared Services Executives, and other C-level stakeholders.
• Act as the primary strategic advisor throughout the customer lifecycle.
• Lead executive business reviews, strategic planning sessions, and value realization discussions.

Drive Customer Value

• Develop and execute customer success plans aligned to measurable business outcomes.
• Help customers identify, track, and communicate ROI from their technology investments.
• Create compelling value stories and business cases that demonstrate operational, financial, and strategic impact.
• Leverage benchmarks, industry trends, and best practices to help customers optimize their processes and maximize value.

Adoption & Business Outcomes

• Drive successful adoption of enterprise software solutions and related services.
• Monitor customer health, engagement, utilization, and business outcomes.
• Identify risks proactively and develop mitigation plans to improve customer success.
• Partner with customers to align technology capabilities with business objectives.

Retention & Growth

• Lead renewal planning activities and help secure long-term customer retention.
• Identify opportunities for solution expansion and increased business value.
• Collaborate closely with Sales teams on account planning and growth initiatives.
• Support customer advocacy programs including references, case studies, advisory boards, and speaking engagements.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Coordinate across Product, Support, Professional Services, and Sales teams to execute customer success plans.
• Escalate and manage complex customer issues through resolution.
• Influence internal stakeholders to prioritize customer outcomes and strategic initiatives.

Required Qualifications

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in Customer Success, Customer Value Management, Value Advisory, Value Engineering, Strategic Account Management, or a similar post‑sales customer‑facing role.
• Experience working with enterprise customers in SaaS, business software, or digital transformation environments.
• Proven ability to engage senior executives and lead strategic business conversations.
• Experience building ROI models, business cases, value realization frameworks, or executive presentations.
• Demonstrated success driving customer adoption, retention, expansion, and customer satisfaction.

Industry Background

Strong preference for candidates with experience supporting enterprise customers using solutions such as:

• Procure-to-Pay (P2P)
• Source-to-Pay (S2P)
• Accounts Payable Automation
• Invoice Automation
• Procurement Technology
• ERP Platforms
• Financial Transformation Solutions
• Business Process Automation Platforms
• Enterprise SaaS Applications

Skills

• Executive presence and strong consultative relationship management skills.
• Ability to translate technical capabilities into measurable business outcomes.
• Strong financial acumen and business case development experience.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and storytelling skills.
• Data‑driven approach to customer success and value realization.
• Ability to manage complex stakeholder environments and global enterprise organizations.
• Strong problem‑solving and project coordination capabilities.