Lead Customer Success Manager

Ascend•San Francisco, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Ascend is transforming the insurance industry, a $10T sector currently reliant on outdated systems. We have developed the first finance automation platform specifically for insurance, integrating AI and embedded fintech to modernize financial transactions throughout the policy lifecycle. In just five years, we have become the market leader, serving thousands of insurance businesses nationwide, processing billions in transactions annually, and achieving over 200% year-over-year growth. Our platform automates financial operations for insurers, MGAs, and agencies, embedding directly into transactions. We believe that companies will succeed by capturing value at the point of transaction, and Ascend is built for this. Our customers experience significant efficiency gains with a proven 5-7x return on investment. Our team of over 70 professionals, located in San Francisco and Columbus, possesses deep expertise in insurance, fintech, and AI, dedicated to building essential industry infrastructure. Our mission is to establish Ascend as the premier financial automation platform for insurance by 2030, powering the industry's financial operations and revolutionizing how trillions of dollars are transacted. We are not just creating another tool; we are building the financial backbone of the insurance industry.

Requirements

4-5 years of experience in related roles
Prior experience managing high value enterprise customer relationships in B2B SaaS or Fintech environments
Experience managing or mentoring teammates, with an ability to influence without direct authority across cross-functional teams
Comfortable operating in the ambiguity and pace of a high growth startup
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to navigate executive level conversations and complex subject matter
A consultative, relationship first approach to customer success with a proven track record of renewals and expansion
Demonstrated ability to build and improve scalable processes, playbooks, or CS programs — not just execute within them

Nice To Haves

Background in insurance, financial services, or fintech is a plus

Responsibilities

Dive deep into Ascend's product, customer segments, and current Customer Success processes and tools.
Build foundational relationships with internal partners across Sales, Product, and Product Support.
Begin developing your approach to managing relationships and driving value for sophisticated insurance organizations.
Own a portfolio of mid-market and enterprise customers, running regular touch-points with executive stakeholders and day to day users.
Develop a strong understanding of your customers' workflows, goals, and success metrics with actionable insights to improve adoption and outcomes.
Lead core customer operations including business reviews, feature rollouts, and coordination of complex issues with Product Support.
Fully own the post implementation customer lifecycle including renewals and expansion motions in partnership with Sales and Product.
Act as the voice of the customer internally by surfacing trends, risks, and opportunities to inform product and process decisions.
Help define and refine scalable Customer Success best practices that enable Ascend to deliver a world class enterprise customer experience.
Mentor and provide guidance to junior Customer Success team members, helping to elevate the overall team's effectiveness and consistency.