Sr. Customer Success Manager

Instructure; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Ownership program

Flexible work culture

Generous time off

Wellness programs

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development

Recognition program

Inclusive culture

Job summary

Instructure is seeking a Sr. Customer Success Manager to lead strategic higher education accounts, guiding adoption and value realization. You will drive executive reviews, leverage AI-enabled workflows, and partner with product teams to shape the platform for major universities.

This role emphasizes retention, renewals, and upsell opportunities across a portfolio, requiring strong communication, stakeholder influence, and a track record in SaaS with EdTech exposure.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in CS, AM, or Sales within SaaS; EdTech preferred.
• Proven success managing a substantial book of business with renewals, upsells, expansions (e.g., portfolios of $3M+ annually).
• Experience using generative AI tools to scale communications and analyze churn data.
• Exceptional communication and executive presence.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategic account plans to secure health, growth, and retention.
• Lead regular executive business reviews with key stakeholders to align on goals and identify expansion opportunities.
• Monitor health metrics and mitigate risks early.
• Serve as primary contact for strategic members, ensuring a positive customer experience.
• Drive product adoption and share best practices across member organizations.
• Collaborate with Product Management to relay member feedback and advocate for improvements.
• Identify upsell opportunities with Sales and maintain CRM documentation.

Skills

Communication

Executive presence

Stakeholder influence

Travel readiness

SaaS experience

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Education, Technology, or related field

Tools

Salesforce

Gainsight

JIRA

Tableau

MS Office

Job description

At Instructure, we believe in the power of people to grow and succeed throughout their lives. Our goal is to amplify that power by creating intuitive products that simplify learning and personal development, facilitate meaningful relationships, and inspire people to go further in their education and careers.

We do this by giving smart, creative, passionate people opportunities to create awesome. And that's where you come in:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Sr. Customer Success Manager (CSM) to join our Strategic HigherEd CSM team. This role is crucial for managing and nurturing relationships with our strategic members. The ideal candidate will possess a high-caliber skill set, a proven track record in strategic customer success, and the ability to drive engagement, adoption, and retention for a large base of key accounts. This individual will act as a trusted advisor, leveraging data and strategic planning to ensure our strategic members achieve maximum value from our platform.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Customer Success Management

• Develop and execute strategic account plans to secure the health, growth, and retention of a portfolio of strategic members.
• Own regular strategic executive business reviews (EBRs) with key stakeholders to align on goals, review performance, and identify expansion opportunities.
• Monitor customer health metrics, identify risks early, and develop mitigation strategies before issues escalated.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for strategic members, ensuring seamless communication and a consistently positive customer experience.

Working smarter with AI

• Use generative AI tools to strengthen account knowledge, sharpen signal detection, and reduce time spent on administrative work, so you can spend more time on strategic customer conversations.
• Bring new workflows and tools to the team.
• Partner with CS leadership to identify where AI-augmented approaches can replace reactive, late-stage interventions with earlier, more strategic engagement.

Driving Product Adoption and Value

• Deeply understand each strategic member's business objectives, workflows, and desired outcomes to tailor success plans.
• Drive product adoption and utilization across member organizations by providing strategic guidance and best practices.
• Collaborate with Product Management to relay member feedback and advocate for improvements that benefit strategic users.
• Share industry trends, emerging EdTech benchmarks, and peer-customer success stories to inspire strategic adoption.

Retention and Growth

• Own the strategic health and growth trajectory of your portfolio, partnering closely with dedicated Renewal Reps, who lead the commercial renewal process.
• Identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling within existing strategic accounts and partner with the Sales team to drive these opportunities.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date documentation of all member interactions, success plans, and forecasts in the CRM.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Education, Technology, or related field.
• Five or more years of progressive experience in Customer Success, Account Management, or Sales within a SaaS environment; EdTech experience strongly preferred.
• Proven success managing a substantial book of business and driving revenue outcomes through renewals, upsells, and expansions (e.g., portfolios of $3M+ annually).
• Experience using generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot) to scale customer communication, analyze churn data, and optimize account management workflows.
• Exceptional communication, executive presence, and ability to influence stakeholders at all levels, including senior university leadership.
• Strong proficiency with key operational tools (Salesforce, Gainsight, JIRA, Tableau, MS Office Suite).
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a high-growth, fast-paced environment, balancing strategic thinking with tactical execution.
• Ability to travel 10-15% for customer engagements, conferences, and team events.

Get in on all the awesome at Instructure!

We offer competitive, meaningful benefits in every country where we operate. While they vary by location, here's a general idea of what you can expect:

• Competitive compensation, plus all full-time employees participate in our ownership program - because everyone should have a stake in our success.
• Flexible work culture. Our remote, hybrid and in-office collaboration spaces vary by role, team and location.
• Generous time off, including local holidays and our annual "Dim the Lights" period in late December, when teams are encouraged to step back and recharge based on departmental needs.
• Comprehensive wellness programs and mental health support
• Learning and development resources, including professional development tools and tuition reimbursement, to support your growth
• The technology and tools you need to do your best work
• Motivosity employee recognition program
• A culture rooted in inclusivity, support, and meaningful connection

We believe in hiring great people and treating them right. The more diverse we are, the better our ideas and outcomes.

Instructure is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We comply with applicable employment and anti-discrimination laws in every country where we operate.

All employees must pass a background check as part of the hiring process. To help protect our teams and systems, we've implemented identity verification measures. Candidates may be asked to verify their legal name, current physical location, and provide a valid contact number and residential address, in accordance with local data privacy laws.

Any attempt to misrepresent personal or professional information will result in disqualification.