Customer Success Lead

About the Role

This is a senior, player-coach role at a mission-driven organization connecting students to mental health care through school and district partnerships. The Customer Success Lead will own a strategic portfolio of school relationships end-to-end while simultaneously building the operating foundation of the Success function: writing playbooks, defining metrics, automating workflows, and eventually raising the bar for the broader team. It is part relationship manager, part founding operator, and the right person will be energized by both sides of that equation.

The ideal candidate brings 8 to 12 years of experience in customer success, account management, or sales, with a track record of managing a high-volume book of business (100 or more accounts) and consistently driving growth and upsell, not just retention. Early-stage startup experience (Seed to Series B) is a strong baseline signal, as is a BDR-to-AE-to-CSM career arc that shows both sales grit and relationship depth. This person is metrics-driven, AI-native, comfortable in ambiguity, and genuinely motivated by improving kids' access to mental health support.

Key Responsibilities

1. Own a portfolio of strategic school and district partnerships from onboarding through renewal and expansion
2. Serve as the primary point of contact for school counselors and administrators, building trust quickly and navigating difficult conversations with high EQ
3. Drive referral and portfolio growth by helping counselors identify more students who could benefit from services
4. Define playbooks, dashboards, and success metrics that keep schools healthy and help the team prioritize time on the highest-leverage relationships
5. Leverage AI tools to automate repetitive workflows and surface insights that inform partner strategy
6. Act as the internal voice of the customer by sharing frontline patterns with Ops, Product, Growth, and Clinical teams
7. Collaborate cross-functionally to resolve partner issues and continuously improve the partner experience
8. Contribute to team development by modeling a proactive, growth-oriented Success motion and laying groundwork for future team leadership

Required Skills & Experience

• 8 to 12 years of experience in customer success, account management, or sales with a high-volume book of business (100 or more accounts)
• Proven track record of driving growth and upsell, not passive retention only
• Early-stage startup experience (Seed to Series B); has built processes and playbooks from scratch with limited resources
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity without needing heavy structure
• Metrics-driven; can work with messy data and turn it into actionable decisions
• AI-native; uses AI tools to automate workflows, draft communications, and surface insights
• High EQ; builds trust fast with busy partners and handles tough conversations well
• Bachelor's degree from a four-year university
• Based in NYC or willing to relocate; able to work in office 3 days per week in SoHo

Preferred Skills

• BDR-to-AE-to-CSM career arc showing both sales grit and relationship management ability
• EdTech, K-12, or school-facing partnership experience
• Background in or strong personal interest in mental health, psychology, or human-centered services
• Experience acting as a coach or informal team lead