Customer Success Manager, Lead

About the role

As a Customer Success Manager Lead at fullthrottle.ai, you will build and lead the CS function for the Direct and Agency business line. You will oversee a team of CSMs, own portfolio health and retention across your market, and directly manage a small portfolio of self-serve customers. This is a player-coach role where you combine hands-on account leadership, team development, and operational excellence. You will report directly to the EVP of Customer Success.

You are a leader who excels at building and scaling high-performing teams while also maintaining direct responsibility for complex, self-serve client accounts. You combine strong commercial acumen with genuine commitment to client success and team development. You are strategic, collaborative, and comfortable managing up with senior stakeholders while rolling up your sleeves on client work and mentoring your team through hands-on coaching.

What you'll do

• Lead and develop a team of Customer Success Managers, fostering a high-performance culture focused on client retention, revenue growth, and strategic partnership

• Set clear expectations for success by tracking and evaluating quarterly revenue targets, retention metrics, and expansion pipeline, ensuring consistent performance and accountability across the team

• Coach CSMs to develop and execute strategic account plans that drive results, providing hands-on support and mentorship for key and high-potential accounts

• Reinforce a commercial mindset that empowers CSMs to own the full client lifecycle, from onboarding through renewal and expansion

• Hire, onboard, and develop top talent, ensuring each team member has a clear growth path and is equipped to deliver exceptional client outcomes

• Directly manage a portfolio of self-serve advertising clients, owning onboarding, Quarterly Business Reviews, performance optimization, and renewal conversations

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve team efficiency through new processes, training enhancements, or platform optimization

• Own portfolio accountability: retention rate, revenue at risk, campaign performance, and expansion pipeline across all active accounts managed by your team and yourself

• Define and document the CS operating model, playbook, and best practices for your business line, including account onboarding, MBR format, at-risk protocol, renewal process, and escalation paths

• Partner with Platform Success on portfolio-level analytics, expansion narratives, and at-risk account briefs, ensuring the right resources are engaged on the right accounts at the right time

• Lead in-person and virtual client engagements including presentations, Quarterly Business Reviews, strategic planning sessions, and training

• Partner with cross-functional leaders (Sales, Product Operations, Finance) to represent the CS perspective, share insights, and drive solutions that improve both client and internal outcomes

• Provide expert guidance on the fullthrottle.ai platform, including campaign setup, performance analysis, optimization strategies, and new opportunities to achieve client KPIs

• Work with Product teams to influence the roadmap based on client needs and industry trends surfaced from your portfolio

• Manage team bandwidth, delivering high-level account support and reporting progress against goals to the EVP of Customer Success

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in account management, campaign strategy, or execution within the programmatic, adtech, or marketing technology space 

• 3+ years of experience managing and developing high-performing teams, with a proven ability to lead from the front and inspire excellence

• Proven track record managing self-serve advertising clients, including full ownership of onboarding, QBR execution, and renewal conversations

• Deep understanding of self-serve platform workflows, self-service customer education, and how to drive adoption and engagement in low-touch models

• Proven track record of driving revenue growth across many large customer accounts through strong relationships and strategic planning

• Deep understanding of Real-Time Bidding (RTB), DSPs, and programmatic advertising fundamentals, with hands-on platform expertise

• Strong ability to simplify and communicate technical concepts with confidence, leveraging platform knowledge to support client success

• Proven success in identifying and closing expansion opportunities within existing accounts, driving incremental revenue growth

• Demonstrated success in solving complex challenges through data-driven decision-making and creative problem-solving

• Excellent organizational skills with strong attention to detail, time management, and ability to prioritize in a fast-paced environment

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build trust and alignment across teams and clients

• Strong management and leadership skills through a collaborative, inclusive approach, comfortable with both mentoring and hands-on execution

• Ability to build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels, from individual contributors to executive leadership

• Track record of setting clear expectations, coaching teams to excellence, and maintaining accountability to performance targets

• Proactive, solutions-focused leader who thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment and drives continuous improvement