Customer Success Manager (Contract)

Harvard Business Publishing•Boston, MA

About The Position

Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is seeking a Customer Success Manager (CSM) for North America. This role is crucial for ensuring customers achieve their goals through effective adoption and sustained use of HBP products. The CSM will act as an expert point of contact, partnering with Sales to support diverse clientele including professors, administrators, and deans. Responsibilities include onboarding, training, and daily engagement, with a strong focus on execution and driving customer outcomes. The CSM will advocate for customer goals, strategize to help them meet those goals, and provide support to achieve outcomes. This requires deep product expertise and the ability to articulate the value of HBP’s digital product portfolio. Through one-to-one and one-to-many interactions, the CSM will ensure seamless customer experiences and measurable impact, driving growth and loyalty. The role demands operational excellence and proactive management of customer deliverables and support. Success hinges on a strategic approach to customer relationship management, ensuring daily interactions contribute to long-term satisfaction, retention, and impact. A strong understanding of the customer lifecycle, exceptional communication and presentation skills, the ability to engage diverse stakeholders, comfort with technologies, and project management expertise are essential.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in customer success, customer onboarding, project management, or implementation roles – ideally within SaaS, EdTech, or B2B2C environments.
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present confidently to audiences and engage with a wide range of stakeholders – from faculty to deans.
Highly organized and self-directed, with a track record of owning outcomes and driving projects to completion.
Passion for delivering exceptional customer experiences and creating measurable impact through proactive engagement and personalized support.
Intellectual curiosity and a commitment to continuous learning, demonstrated by proactively seeking out resources and studying documentation to develop deep product expertise.
Comfortable navigating ambiguity and solving problems proactively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
Proficient with tools such as Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft Office, and virtual collaboration platforms like Webex or Zoom.
Ability to quickly learn and become a power user of new technologies, with a curiosity for digital learning tools and platforms.
Collaborative and flexible team player with the ability to work across matrixed, cross-functional teams.
Growth-oriented mindset with a desire to stay informed about emerging technologies, educational trends, and customer success best practices.
Ability to travel occasionally across North America.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with academic institutions, educators, or in the education sector is a plus.
Familiarity with LMS platforms and integration standards (e.g., LTI 1.3) is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Serve as a primary regional advisor to educators, administrators, and institutional stakeholders to ensure successful adoption and ongoing usage of HBI products and services.
Lead tailored product demonstrations, debriefs, and training sessions for individuals and groups of customers and prospects to support educational objectives.
Oversee the implementation of new B2B customers, including high-touch onboarding, system configuration, and usage reporting, ensuring a premium experience for high-value accounts.
Develop and maintain deep knowledge of the HBI’s active learning pedagogy and product suite—including digital products, Admin tooling, partner LMS platforms, and more — and use that expertise to drive growth across the region.
Provide responsive support to customers, managing Zendesk and JIRA case resolution in alignment with HBI’s service standards and SLAs.
Escalate and document issues through established channels to ensure timely resolution by Product and Engineering teams.
Support regional workshops – in person and virtually – for premium customers, serving as a subject matter expert for faculty, facilitators, and institutional stakeholders.
Collaborate with Sales and cross-functional teams to drive regional growth through strategic account planning, customer engagement, and special projects that drive scalability, efficiency, product innovation, and growth.
Track and report on key customer success metrics and delivery KPIs to monitor impact and drive continuous improvement.
Leverage tools such as Tableau, Salesforce, Zendesk, and AI-powered platforms to streamline workflows and enhance efficiency.