AVP, Subject Matter Expert Practice

RingCentral

1d•Remote

About The Position

The AVP, SME Practice owns RingCentral's post-sales subject matter expertise function across UCaaS, CCaaS, and Agentic AI. This is not a traditional people-management executive role. It requires someone who has been a practitioner at a high level — who can credibly assess the technical caliber of SME candidates, hold a substantive conversation with a principal engineer or CTO, and design an engagement model that the best technical people will respect. The AVP owns the strategy, structure, staffing, engagement economics, and performance of the SME practice globally — including both the Global SME tiers and the Manila-based Level 1/2/3 tiers. They are the primary owner of the product feedback loop and the executive sponsor of the practice's commercial evolution. All SME engagements are initiated through the TSM. The AVP owns the design and governance of that model — including intake standards, engagement scoping, SLA frameworks, and the commercial structure (embedded, consumable credit, or billable) as the practice matures.

Requirements

Ran a professional services, implementation, or solutions engineering practice at a UCaaS or CCaaS vendor — responsible for technical delivery quality across a team of practitioners
Served in a senior technical leadership role where the work product was technical, not just organizational
Built or transformed a post-sales technical practice with measurable impact on customer retention, NPS, and product adoption
Has personally done the work at some point in their career — configured contact center platforms, led complex integrations, delivered enterprise implementations — and can demonstrate it
12+ years in post-sales technical functions within UCaaS, CCaaS, or enterprise SaaS — professional services, solutions engineering, technical CSM, or implementation
5+ years in people leadership of technical specialists — with a track record of building high-credential, high-performance teams
A personal technical history that can be interrogated: platforms worked on, deployments led, architectures owned
Deep familiarity with the competitive landscape: NICE CXone, Genesys, Five9, Zoom, 8x8, Cisco, Avaya, Twilio, AWS Connect
Formal education (Bachelor's degree required) in a technical, engineering, or business field
A professional history that reads clearly: where you worked, what you built, what you were accountable for
You can assess the technical credibility of a candidate through direct conversation — not dependent on recruiters or HR to make that call
You set a high bar and hold it — the SME practice's value depends entirely on the credibility of its people
You are direct with product leadership, with sales, and with customers — including when the news is unfavorable
You build a team that technical people want to be part of — because the work is substantive, the culture respects expertise, and the path is clear

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree strongly preferred in a technical, engineering, or business field

Responsibilities

Own the strategy, design, and performance of the SME practice across all specialty lanes and both Global and Manila tiers
Define the engagement model: how TSMs request SME support, how engagements are scoped, staffed, quality-controlled, and reported
Own the commercial evolution of the SME function — developing the pricing and packaging model (embedded, consumable, billable) in partnership with Finance and Revenue leadership
Recruit, assess, and hire SMEs and Sr. SMEs — with a specific mandate to screen for real hands-on expertise, not credential inflation
Design the technical assessment process: structured interrogation of past work, scenario-based technical interviews, peer review by Sr. SMEs
Build the career framework and competency model for the SME discipline at all tiers — Global and Manila
Foster a culture where depth of expertise is the currency — not tenure, not relationship skills, not seniority by title
Own the AI fluency standard across the SME practice — ensuring the tiered AI requirement is embedded in hiring, onboarding, and ongoing development across all six lanes
Stay current on RingCentral's AI product roadmap (NOVA, RingSense, ACE, IVA) and ensure SMEs are positioned ahead of customer AI adoption curves
Partner with the Product AI team to ensure SMEs have early access to AI features, beta programs, and prompt engineering resources before they reach the field
Own the strategic relationship between the post-sales SME organization and RingCentral Product across all three business lines
Design and operate the formal product feedback loop — ensuring field intelligence reaches Product Management in a structured, prioritized, evidence-backed format
Represent the SME practice in product councils, roadmap reviews, and beta advisory programs — as a voice with standing, not an observer
Partner with the SVP, CX and peer leaders in Support Operations and the TSM organization to integrate the SME function into the CX delivery model
Report SME practice performance in executive business reviews and contribute SME data to retention and NPS scorecards
Engage directly in strategic account situations at the executive level when the account scope warrants AVP-level involvement

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance
Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSAs) and Commuter benefits
401K match and ESPP
Paid time off and paid sick leave
Paid parental and pregnancy leave and new parent gift boxes
Family-forming benefits (IVF, Preservation, Adoption etc.)
Emergency backup care (Child/Adult/Pets)
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with counseling sessions available 24/7
Free legal services that provide legal advice, document creation and estate planning
Employee bonus referral program
Student loan refinancing assistance
Employee perks and discounts program