Customer Success Manager

Talent Recruitment & Consulting (Pty) Ltd; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Ongoing professional development

Global opportunities

Competitive compensation

Five day working week

Open door policy

Job summary

Talent Recruitment & Consulting (Pty) Ltd is seeking a senior Customer Success leader to drive strategic relationships with higher education institutions across South Africa and the SADC region.

You will develop and execute Customer Success Plans, oversee executive reviews, and collaborate with Product, Implementation, Support and Sales to secure renewals, upsell opportunities, and long-term partnerships. This role combines strategic advisory with hands-on account leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Education, Education Technology, or a related field.
• Master's or postgraduate qualification is advantageous
• Minimum 5 years of experience in customer success, account management, enterprise software, or a similar customer-facing role
• Experience working with higher education institutions or public sector clients
• Experience in SaaS, ERP, SIS, or enterprise software environments
• Experience managing strategic customer relationships and senior stakeholders
• Certifications in Customer Success, IT Service Management, Account Management, or related areas will be advantageous

Responsibilities

• Serve as strategic contact for higher education institutions across SA and SADC.
• Build and maintain relationships with senior stakeholders including VCs, Registrars, CIOs, Deans.
• Develop and execute customer success plans aligned with institutional goals.
• Drive adoption, utilization, and value realisation of the SIS platform.
• Monitor customer health and success metrics to identify risks and opportunities.
• Coordinate resolution of escalated strategic issues with cross-functional teams.

Skills

Strategic account management

Executive stakeholder management

SaaS industry knowledge

Cross-functional leadership

Customer success strategy

English communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or related field

Master's degree advantageous

Tools

ERP systems

CRM systems

LMS platforms

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic point of contact for key higher education institutions across South Africa and the SADC region
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders, including Vice Chancellors, Registrars, CIOs, Deans, Rectors, and ICT Directors
• Develop and execute Customer Success Plans aligned with each institution's strategic objectives
• Conduct Executive Business Reviews (EBRs) and Strategic Success Reviews with customer leadership teams
• Drive customer adoption, utilisation, and value realisation of the SIS platform
• Monitor customer health, success metrics, and institutional outcomes to proactively identify risks and opportunities
• Ensure high customer retention, renewal, satisfaction, and long-term partnership growth
• Identify expansion and upselling opportunities across SIS modules and services in collaboration with Sales teams
• Provide strategic advisory support on student lifecycle management and digital transformation initiatives
• Present customer insights, usage analytics, ROI, and value reports to executive stakeholders
• Act as the bridge between customer strategy and internal Product, Implementation, Support, and Development teams
• Coordinate resolution of escalated strategic customer issues while operational support remains with dedicated Support teams
• Capture customer feedback and advocate for product enhancements and roadmap improvements
• Develop customer champions, reference institutions, success stories, and community engagement initiatives across the SADC region
• Participate in higher education conferences, user groups, advisory boards, and strategic customer engagement activities
• For Director level: build and lead the Customer Success function, establish scalable frameworks and processes, mentor Customer Success Managers, and define regional customer success standards and performance metrics

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Education, Education Technology, or a related field
• Master's or postgraduate qualification is advantageous
• Minimum 5 years of experience in customer success, account management, enterprise software, or a similar customer-facing role
• Experience working with higher education institutions or public sector clients
• Experience in SaaS, ERP, SIS, or enterprise software environments
• Experience managing strategic customer relationships and senior stakeholders
• Certifications in Customer Success, IT Service Management, Account Management, or related areas will be advantageous

Skills & Attributes

• Strong understanding of higher education operations, processes, and governance
• Strong knowledge of Student Information Systems (SIS) and Education ERP platforms
• Understanding of student lifecycle processes, including admissions, registration, examinations, graduation, and alumni management
• Strong strategic account management and customer success skills
• Excellent executive stakeholder management and relationship-building skills
• Strong understanding of SaaS and enterprise software environments
• Ability to translate technology capabilities into measurable customer and institutional outcomes
• Strong commercial acumen with an understanding of retention, renewals, expansion, and upselling
• Excellent presentation, facilitation, and business communication skills
• Strong negotiation, conflict resolution, and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to influence stakeholders without direct authority
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and leadership skills
• Ability to analyse customer health, adoption, utilisation, and success metrics
• Strong customer advocacy and relationship management skills
• Excellent strategic thinking and decision-making abilities
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
• Ability to manage complex stakeholder environments and multiple strategic accounts
• Knowledge of ERP, CRM, LMS, and integrated education technology platforms is advantageous
• Familiarity with South African and SADC higher education environments
• Additional language skills are advantageous

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Customer retention and renewal rates
• Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Product adoption and utilisation rates
• Customer health scores
• Expansion and upsell revenue
• Executive engagement frequency and quality
• Achievement of defined customer success outcomes
• Growth in customer advocacy and reference accounts

What's On Offer

Our client fosters a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence, offering:

• Ongoing professional development and learning support
• Exposure to pioneering and innovative projects
• Global opportunities to work on international assignments
• Competitive, best of breed compensation
• A five day working week supporting healthy work life balance
• An open door policy where ideas and feedback are genuinely welcomed