Director of Client Success

Competitive Compensation & Benefits Package * 401(k) with Profit Sharing * Flexible Time Off * Office Dog

ABOUT US

By combining our unparalleled domain expertise with leading-edge technology, Ad Astra is helping higher education in its mission to advance timely student completions. We are building a cloud-based software platform that will provide the foundation for our next generation of industry-leading solutions and analytics. Simply put, we're helping students graduate faster.  

OUR CORE VALUES

• We recognize talent. We recognize and appreciate the unique God-given talents that our people bring to Ad Astra. Aligning these individual gifts with our work sets team members up to succeed. 
• We're unpretentious. There's no room for ego. We admit our imperfections and have the humility to know what we don't know. 
• We're passionate. We aren't satisfied with the status quo. We're on a mission together to protect the value of degree completion and to transform the higher education industry. 
• We're pioneering. We're pioneering and aren't afraid of failing—in fact, we celebrate it. We love it when our people boldly experiment with innovative solutions. 
• We love fun. The health of our relationships is strengthened by working with people who stretch our thinking—and by enjoying the lighter side of life together. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take fun seriously. 
• We have grit. Beyond talent and intelligence, our people have stick-to-itiveness. We push through challenges to make goals a reality. 

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Client Success plays a pivotal role in ensuring clients achieve measurable results and sustained value through our solutions. This leader will elevate the client experience by building trusted partnerships, driving product adoption, and ensuring every client realizes a clear return on investment. 

The ideal candidate has a proven track record in client relationship development, retention, organic growth, and strategic account leadership. They bring experience managing teams with sales or expansion quotas and can operationalize a value-based sales plan to drive measurable outcomes.  

This role requires a strategic and operational mindset—someone capable of leading a forward-deployed Client Success organization focused on proactive engagement, data-driven insights, and long-term retention. The Director will collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Sales, and Onboarding to ensure a seamless client journey from implementation through renewal and expansion. 

The successful candidate is a self-starter, exceptional communicator, and strategic thinker who thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Client Results & Enduring Value 

• Ensure clients achieve measurable outcomes and sustained value aligned to their institutional goals. 
• Lead a forward-deployed Client Success team focused on proactive engagement, product adoption, and tangible ROI. 
• Quantify and communicate the business impact clients gain from our solutions through data-driven insights, benchmarks, and success metrics. 

Client Retention & Growth 

• Develop and execute strategies to maximize Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR). 
• Drive Expansion ARR through strong adoption, strategic relationships, and identification of upsell opportunities. 
• Oversee client migrations to our new, modern platform, ensuring a seamless, value-driven transition experience. 
• Collaborate with Sales leadership to execute go-to-market plans that grow revenue through expansion sales at existing clients. 
• Ensure teams consistently meet or exceed revenue and retention goals. 

Trusted Advisor Relationships 

• Build and maintain executive-level partnerships with client institutions, positioning Ad Astra as a trusted advisor and strategic innovation partner. 
• Guide Client Success Managers to lead with Client Success Plans, Business Reviews, and performance scorecards that demonstrate progress and impact. 
• Directly manage strategic client relationships as needed, providing leadership, expertise, and advocacy to ensure successful outcomes. 

Adoption & Engagement 

• Develop frameworks to monitor and enhance client adoption across all product lines. 
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Services to align client feedback and ensure solutions deliver measurable results. 
• Liaise with internal teams to manage and track client commitments, deliverables, and success milestones. 

Leadership & Team Enablement 

• Lead, mentor, and scale a high-performing Client Success organization focused on value delivery and measurable impact. 
• Institutionalize data and metrics in everyday operations by creating standardized reports on benchmarks, utilization, retention, and expansion pipelines. 
• Establish consistent processes, playbooks, and training to ensure predictable and repeatable success across client engagements. 
• Facilitate weekly Client Success team meetings and reporting cadences; actively participate in cross-functional leadership and sales meetings. 
• Represent the Client Success function in strategic planning sessions, advocating for client needs and market-informed priorities. 

POSITION REQUIREMENTS 

• 5+ years of experience leading Client Success teams, preferably in SaaS B2B businesses 
• Bachelor's degree in business, sales, marketing, or equivalent training in business, Client Success, or Sales management  
• Ability to interact with enterprise Client teams at various levels of technical and non-technical depth 
• Experience establishing business measures and reporting on success metrics 
• Proven ability to develop executive champions at a strategic level  
• Ability to guide, coach, and manage multiple direct reports 
• Track record of developing growth strategies and tracking Client success 
• Experience leading and implementing a client-centered and value-focused Client engagement model 
• Ability to lead projects, delegate tasks, and track progress of team initiatives 
• Experience creating proposals and SOW's and presenting terms to Clients 
• Proven ability to meet and exceed retention and expansion targets 
• High emotional intelligence, including curiosity, empathy, self-awareness, and integrity  
• Experience in Higher Ed tech is preferred 

ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES 

• Collaborative  
• Quickly adapts to new systems and tools

SKILLS 

• Client journey & success mapping 
• Strong leadership and people management acumen 
• Strategic planning and implementation expertise 
• Critical thinking skills  
• Negotiation & Sales  
• Analytical skills  
• Strong aptitude for learning new systems and technologies.

TOOLS AND SYSTEMS 

• Salesforce 
• Salesloft 
• EverAfter 
• Gainsight / Pendo 
• Zendesk 
• Guru 
• Jira 
• Marketo 
• Microsoft 365 

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

• Net Revenue Retention (NRR) 
• Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) 
• Expansion ARR 
• Client migrations to the modern platform 
• Client adoption rates across core products 
• Client retention and satisfaction 

Ad Astra is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and fairness—regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, political affiliation, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Please note that Ad Astra is unable to provide work visa sponsorship for this position.