Customer Success Manager

Customers trust the Alation Data Intelligence Platform for self-service analytics, cloud transformation, data governance, and AI-ready data, fostering data-driven innovation at scale. With more than $340M in funding – valued at over $1.7 billion and nearly 600 customers, including 40% of the Fortune 100 — Alation helps organizations realize value from data and AI initiatives.

Alation has been recognized in 2024 as one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces for the fifth time, a testament to our commitment to creating an inclusive, innovative, and collaborative environment. 

Collaboration is at the forefront of everything we do. We strive to bring diverse perspectives together and empower each team member to contribute their unique strengths to live out our values each day. These are: Move the Ball, Build for the Long Term, Listen Like You’re Wrong, and Measure Through Customer Impact. 

Joining Alation means being part of a fast-paced, high-growth company where every voice matters, and where we’re shaping the future of data intelligence with AI-ready data. 

Join us on our journey to build a world where data culture thrives and curiosity is celebrated each day!

Job Description:

The Customer Success Manager (CSM) at Alation is a pivotal role focused on fostering strong relationships with enterprise customers, driving engagement, and technical support, and ensuring the successful adoption and value realization of Alation’s Data Intelligence platform. A CSM partners with clients to develop strategic engagement plans to guide deployments for an assigned portfolio of customers. Combining strong technical acumen, strategic thinking, and interpersonal skills, the CSM works to maximize customer satisfaction, retention, and growth while championing the voice of the customer across internal teams. This role requires empathetic and results-oriented leadership to help customers overcome challenges and deeply leverage Alation’s platform to achieve their data program goals.

The ideal candidate thrives at strategic planning, problem-solving, and cultivating long-term relationships with Alation program teams, sponsors, and executives. Through leverage of deep data data management knowledge, and experience with data programs,  CSMs serve as a trusted advisor to customers, advocating for their needs and ensuring the successful development of data cultures. This individual collaborates across teams to identify and remove barriers to customer success, enabling them to maximize the business value of Alation. Reporting to Customer Solutions Leadership, the CSM’s mission is to drive meaningful and measurable outcomes for customers while amplifying their feedback to enhance Alation’s solutions and overall customer experience.

What you'll be doing:

• Customer Relationship Management: Serve as the primary point of contact, building strong relationships with key customer stakeholders and understanding their challenges and goals. Serve as a trusted advisor by providing expert guidance and best practices to address business needs.

• Strategic Account Planning: Develop strategic deployment plans for your portfolio of customers.  Own the engagement and adoption strategy at all phases of the customer life cycle. Offer guidance on optimizing and maximizing customer ROI of the Alation data intelligence platform.

• Product Knowledge: Possess deep knowledge of Alation's capabilities, effectively demonstrating value and providing expert guidance aligned with customer needs. Conduct training sessions to educate customers on how to effectively leverage product capabilities to derive business value.

• Problem-Solving & Technical Acumen: Through knowledge of Alation, the modern data stack, and data & analytics technologies, address complex technical or business issues to maximize customer satisfaction. Utilize data and analytics tools to analyze customer usage patterns and provide insights for improving customer engagement.

• Account Health Management: Proactively manage the day-to-day account health of customers, including monitoring usage, regular cadence calls, executive business reviews, and other customer communications to ensure optimal account health.

• Industry Expertise: Solid grasp of data management and governance principles, practices, and solutions, and able to guide customers. 

• Risk Mitigation & Customer Growth:  Work to proactively forecast, identify and mitigate renewal risks. Collaborate with internal teams to remediate. Partner closely with sales to manage account strategy, ensuring customer retention and growth, including upsell/cross-sell opportunities.

• Voice of the Customer: Serve as an advocate for the customer within Alation.  Be the voice of the customer as you partner with support, engineering, marketing, product, and sales to shape product development and deliver a best-in-class customer experience.

What You Need:

• BS / BA degree in a relevant field or equivalent work experience

• 10+ years of experience in customer success, solutions engineering, professional services, technical account management or a related field

• Experience managing accounts related to enterprise data management, data governance, or similar data intelligence solutions

• Customer-centric attitude with a passion for ensuring client success, strong customer empathy, and a commitment to meeting customer needs

• Can identify, manage, and mitigate customer risk

• Strong technical acumen, with the ability to communicate complex concepts to non-technical stakeholders

• Working knowledge of data disciplines and technologies (Data Warehousing, Databases, Data Modeling, Transformation/ETL, Data Quality, BI/Analytics, Data Products, Cloud Platforms)

• Familiarity with software development, integration, SQL, Python, and API usage is advantageous

• Proficient in solution customization and configuration to align with client requirements

• Engaged in understanding industry trends and emerging technologies

• Motivated, proactive self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced startup environment

• Passionate about data and the value that can be derived from it

• Effective organization and project management skills; ability to prioritize multiple engagements

• Problem-solving mindset with the ability to analyze issues and provide effective solutions

• Experienced in conducting training sessions and workshops for clients

• Must possess strong presentation skills and be able to communicate professionally

• Capable of influencing, interacting, and collaborating with senior executives

• Able to turn satisfied customers into advocates and references for the company

• Able to meet deadlines and manage priorities

• Ability to travel up to 20%

If you are passionate about customer success and driving data intelligence initiatives, this role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to Alation's growth.

Alation, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to that individual’s race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.                                   
 

The Company will strive to provide reasonable accommodations to permit qualified applicants who have a need for an accommodation to participate in the hiring process (e.g., accommodations for a job interview) if so requested.  
 

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