Senior Director, Customer Support

Starburst; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading data analytics company is seeking a Senior Director of Customer Support in Boston to lead their global support team. This role involves strategic planning, customer advocacy, and ensuring top-notch service across various customer tiers. Candidates should have extensive experience in customer support leadership, with a strong technical background and proven ability to foster team development. The position requires a hybrid work model with onsite expectations 2-3 days per week.

Benefits

Equity packages (ISOs)

Comprehensive benefits offering

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in customer support or success.
• At least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Experience supporting technical products or services.

Responsibilities

• Lead a globally distributed team of support professionals.
• Design customer support delivery models tailored to different tiers.
• Define and track KPIs for support efficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Customer Advocacy

Strategic Planning

Technical Proficiency

Financial Acumen

Communication Skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree in Business or Engineering

Tools

Zendesk

Salesforce Service Cloud

Intercom

Job description

Overview

Starburst is the data platform for analytics, applications, and AI, unifying data across clouds and on-premises to accelerate AI innovation. Organizations—from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises in 60+ countries—rely on Starburst for fast data access, seamless collaboration, and enterprise-grade governance on an open hybrid data lakehouse. Wherever data lives, Starburst unlocks its full potential, powering data and AI from development to deployment. By future-proofing data architecture, Starburst helps businesses fuel innovation with AI.

About the Role

We’re seeking a strategic, empathetic, and technically proficient Senior Director of Customer Support to lead our global support organization. This individual will play a critical role in scaling our customer support function, delivering world-class service, and building deep relationships with both customers and internal teams.

The Senior Director will lead a globally distributed team, including 3 direct Manager-level reports and a high-performing group of technical support professionals. They will shape support delivery models for various customer tiers, ensure 24/7 global coverage, and advise on support monetization and billing strategy. In this role, you’ll partner cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success to ensure our customers’ voices are heard and their issues resolved efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead a globally distributed team of support professionals, including 3 direct Manager-level reports.
• Foster a high-performing, inclusive team culture centered around accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Drive career development and technical growth for support engineers.

Strategic Planning & Execution

• Design and evolve customer support delivery models tailored to different tiers (e.g., standard vs. premium).
• Develop and maintain a 24/7 global support strategy aligned with SLAs and customer expectations.
• Advise on and support implementation of support billing and monetization strategies.

Customer Advocacy & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Act as a senior customer advocate internally, partnering closely with Sales, Strategic Accounts, Product, and Engineering.
• Collaborate to identify trends and feedback loops that improve product quality and customer experience.

Operational Excellence & Metrics

• Define and track KPIs for support efficiency, CSAT, resolution times, and customer outcomes.
• Drive automation, tooling improvements, and scalable processes to support growth.
• Maintain high standards for support quality and adherence to service levels.
• Monetization Strategy: Collaborate with Finance and Product to develop pricing models for support offerings and advise on billing structures.
• Technical Enablement: Create an environment that supports continuous technical learning, certification, and skill development for team members.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related field preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in customer support or customer success, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Proven track record of managing global support teams, including people management across time zones and cultures.
• Experience supporting technical products or services, ideally in the B2B SaaS or technology industry.
• Demonstrated ability to plan strategically and execute tactically in fast-paced environments.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience advising on or creating support billing/pricing models.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build relationships with customers, executives, and internal stakeholders.
• Passion for customer satisfaction and a drive to create scalable, sustainable support models.
• Proficient with support tools and platforms (e.g., Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Intercom).
• Ability to Travel: This role will require occasional in-person travel for purposes including but not limited to new hire onboarding, team and department offsites, customer engagements, and other company events. Actual travel expectations may vary by role and business needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading tiered or premium support offerings.
• Familiarity with ITIL or other service management frameworks.
• Prior involvement in post-sales customer experience or success roles.
• Background in technical support for infrastructure, developer tools, APIs, or complex enterprise software.

Location

This role is based in our Boston office and follows a hybrid model, with an expectation of being onsite 2-3 days per week.

Compensation & Benefits

Starburst is dedicated to maintaining fair and equitable compensation practices. The salary range provided for this role reflects the minimum and maximum targets for candidates across all U.S. locations and could be inclusive of variable compensation, such as commission or bonus. All employees receive equity packages (ISOs) and have access to a comprehensive benefits offering. Actual compensation packages are determined based on relevant skills, experience, education and training, and specific work location. For more information, connect with the recruiting team or Hiring Manager during the process as they can provide more detailed information about the salary range.