Partner Operations Lead

Protect Group; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Protect Group is seeking a Customer/Partner Success Operations Lead based in Cape Town, office-based/hybrid. This permanent, full-time role reports to the Chief Risk and Operations Officer and offers a competitive salary based on experience.

The ideal candidate will have fluent English and 7+ years of experience building or running a partner/customer success operations function, with a track record in scaling CS/OMS capabilities within a fast-growing B2B or platform business.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal English.
• 7+ years of experience building or running a partner/customer success operations function.
• Experience scaling Partner/Customer Success or Account Management ops in a fast-growing B2B/platform.
• Proven track record in renewal, expansion, and churn-management motions.

Responsibilities

• Own the segmentation and coverage model for the book of business post-onboarding.
• Define partner lifecycle/journey with clear ownership at each stage.
• Build and maintain playbooks for QBRs, check-ins, and at-risk accounts.
• Own data and health-score model with defined inputs, weightings, and actions.
• Build dashboards and reporting cadence for team, executives and board.
• Run renewal and expansion forecasting feeding into the revenue plan.
• Develop cross-functional interlocks with Sales, Product and Support and a RACI.

Skills

English language

Cross-functional leadership

Tools

CRM platforms

Analytics stack

Job description

Customer/Partner Success Operations Lead

Location: Protect Group South Africa - Cape Town - Office based/hybrid

Contract: Permanent, Full time

Reports to: Chief Risk and Operations Officer

Salary: Competitive and based on experience

Must have: Fluent in English & 7+ years of experience building or running a partner/customer success operations function

About Protect Group

Protect Group specialises in enhancing customer experience and generating additional revenue for businesses through innovative technology solutions. Founded in 2016, we've rapidly grown to serve over 400 business partners across 75+ countries, with a presence in 12 global offices. Our dynamic, AI-driven widget integrates seamlessly into online booking and sales platforms, providing customer-centric solutions that boost satisfaction and ancillary revenue without significant upfront costs. At Protect Group, innovation is at our core — we continuously seek new ideas and technologies to stay ahead in today's fast-changing market.

As a part of the Protect Group team, you will join a community that values collaboration and a shared purpose, fostering a strong sense of community. We believe in accountability and owning our responsibilities, ensuring that we deliver on promises and find solutions when challenges arise.

'Protect People' are talented, ambitious, and passionate individuals who bring energy and enthusiasm to their work every day. We are looking for someone who shares our passion for disrupting global industries across transportation, travel, hospitality, events, and financial services, driving continuous growth and success.

Role Description:

The role includes but is not limited to:

• Designing and owning the end-to-end Partner Success Operations function for the book of business that sits post-onboarding, from handover through renewal
• Building the segmentation and coverage model that determines levels of service
• Defining the partner lifecycle/journey, with named stages, exit criteria, and clear ownership at each stage
• Building and maintaining the operational playbooks that the Partner Success team runs day to day
• Owning the data and health-scoring infrastructure that drives proactive account management
• Building the reporting suite and cadence that keeps the team, executive team, and board informed
• Running the forecasting and commercial governance rhythm for renewals and expansion, feeding into the wider revenue plan
• Owning renewal and churn management, escalation, and voice-of-partner processes
• Partnering with Sales, Partnership Relationship Managers, Product and Support through defined cross-functional interlocks and a clear RACI

Required Skills and Experience:

• Proven experience designing or scaling a Partner Success, Customer Success, or Account Management operations function, ideally in a fast-growing B2B or platform business
• Strong grasp of segmentation and coverage models, and how to translate them into a workable book-of-business allocation
• Hands-on experience building health-score models — defining inputs, weightings and thresholds that trigger action rather than just a status colour
• Experience selecting, implementing or administering CS/CRM/analytics platforms and integrating them into a coherent stack
• A track record of building renewal, expansion, and churn-management motions, including forecasting that feeds a commercial or revenue plan
• Experience designing comp and KPI frameworks (e.g. NRR, GRR, health score movement, adoption) that drive the right behaviours
• Comfortable operating across strategic design work and the operational detail needed to make it run day to day
• 7+ years of relevant experience, with people or cross-functional leadership exposure
• International experience beneficial

Responsibilities:

• Owning the segmentation and coverage model, and the book-of-business allocation that follows from it
• Defining and maintaining the partner lifecycle/journey, from adoption handover through to renewal, with clear exit criteria at each stage
• Building and continuously improving playbooks for QBRs, check-ins, at-risk accounts, and satisfaction measurement (NPS/CSAT)
• Owning the data and health-score model — defined inputs, weightings, thresholds, and the specific actions they trigger
• Building and maintaining standard dashboards and reporting cadence for team, executive, and board consumption
• Running the renewal and expansion forecasting rhythm, and ensuring CS numbers roll cleanly into the wider revenue plan
• Maintaining a forward-looking renewal calendar, a risk escalation path, and a documented save/win-back motion for at-risk accounts Identifying and driving expansion programs — upsell, cross-sell, and usage growth within the existing partner base
• Project-managing roll-out plans and tracking time-to-value for new and existing partners
• Running advocacy programs — references, case studies, and reviews — with a clear ask-and-reward structure
• Building a structured voice-of-partner loop that feeds feedback into product and ops, and closes the loop back to the partner
• Building out a knowledge base and enablement materials so the process doesn't live in individuals' heads
• Establishing cross-functional interlocks with Sales, Product, and Support, and a RACI for who owns the partner at each stage
• Designing the comp and KPI framework for the team (NRR, GRR, health score movement, adoption)

Requirements and Characteristics:

• Excellent written and verbal English and very good communication skills overall
• Outgoing and ready to collaborate with colleagues self-starter, prepared to accept and respond to the challenges of a fast-growing business
• A "can do" attitude, with a commercial and solutions based approach to problem solving
• Able to offer a hands-on approach to assigned projects and work under pressure
• Comfortable moving between building operational infrastructure and running day-to-day partner management, without a preference for only the former
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and assess risks and propose creative solutions
• Adaptable, proactive and actively contributing to the growth and development of the business
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality