Senior Manager, Customer Success

ABOUT FIRSTHAND Firsthand has built the first AI-powered Brand Agent platform, transforming the way marketers and publishers engage consumers through their own AI agents, anywhere online. While most AI applications in marketing and advertising focus on back-office automation, the Firsthand Brand Agent Platform™ powers front-line consumer engagement. Operating across both owned properties and paid media, Firsthand's Brand Agents make a company’s expertise accessible in real time, adapting to consumers’ interests and guiding them towards the information they need to take action. Central to the platform is Lakebed™, the company’s AI-first data and knowledge rights management system that ensures brands retain full ownership and control of their expertise. Firsthand is led by Jon Heller, Michael Rubenstein, and Wei Wei, whose previous ventures helped build the foundations of modern digital advertising. Backed by Radical Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, and Crossbeam Venture Partners, Firsthand is shaping the future of AI-driven consumer engagement. Firsthand is headquartered in NYC, with team members working together in-office three days a week. ABOUT THE ROLE We’re seeking a Manager of Customer Success to own the post-sale operating relationship for Firsthand’s agency, brand, and channel-partner engagements. This is a senior individual contributor role for a highly capable operator who can coordinate complex delivery, communicate value, manage risk, and create the conditions for successful renewals. Reporting to the Head of Operations, you will work closely with Sales, Solutions Consulting, GTM Strategy & Operations, Product, and external partners. You will own the customer cadence, integrated delivery plan, account health, and renewal readiness, operating as a key facilitator to Sales and a partner to Solutions Consulting. Success requires strong judgment, operational rigor, and the ability to lead through influence. WHAT YOU'LL DO OWN THE POST-SALE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT - Serve as the primary operating lead from commercial handoff through launch, live delivery, value realization, and renewal preparation. - Establish stakeholder maps, success plans, meeting cadences, decision rights, risks, dependencies, and escalation paths for each account. - Coordinate agencies, advertisers, publishers, internal teams, and external partners without creating parallel or conflicting relationship structures. TRANSLATE DELIVERY INTO CUSTOMER VALUE - Turn campaign performance, technical progress, optimization work, and insights into clear customer-facing value narratives and next-step recommendations. - Merchandise and evangelize core Firsthand value propositions and differentiators in balance with incumbent performance requirements - Own account health and renewal readiness, including proof-point collection, stakeholder alignment, risk mitigation, and timely partnership with Sales on renewal and expansion strategy. - Ensure customers experience Firsthand as proactive, coordinated, and commercially credible throughout the engagement. - Serve as a strategic thought partner, leveraging market and industry trends to uncover new opportunity areas for customers PRIORITIZE WORK AND PROTECT SPECIALIST CAPACITY - Own the customer-facing backlog and determine what requires Solutions Consulting, Product, Engineering, publisher, or commercial intervention to maximize customer health and renewal readiness. - Partner with Solutions Consulting on sequencing and technical trade-offs while keeping SC focused on solution design, implementation, performance management, and insights. - Use repeatable intake, handoff, reporting, and escalation practices to reduce post-sale dependency on Sales to keep relationships healthy. HELP ESTABLISH THE CUSTOMER SUCCESS DISCIPLINE - Apply and improve the customer lifecycle, account-health framework, service standards, portfolio practices, and operating scorecard. - Develop practical playbooks for agency-direct and publisher/channel-sold engagements, including who communicates with whom, on what topics, and at what cadence. - Surface recurring customer needs and delivery patterns to GTM Strategy & Operations, Product, and Engineering so successful work becomes repeatable company capability. WHO YOU ARE - 10+ years of experience in customer success, client delivery, strategic account management, program management, ad tech, martech, or a related field, with ownership of complex enterprise relationships. FLUENT IN PROGRAMMATIC MEDIA, PARTNERSHIPS, AND STRATEGIC CUSTOMER SUCCESS 1. Experience with advanced research and measurement solutions that situate product value in the context of a marketplace or vertical 2. A systems-oriented operator who can lead high-stakes accounts independently while applying repeatable processes and sound judgment. 3. Fluent in digital advertising and the operating dynamics among agencies, advertisers, publishers, programmatic platforms, and technical delivery teams. 4. Commercially astute and able to connect delivery evidence to customer value, renewal readiness, and expansion opportunity. 5. Credible with executives, operators, and technical specialists, with disciplined written and verbal communication and strong judgment under ambiguity. 6. Comfortable holding teams and partners accountable, resolving cross-functional friction, and making prioritization decisions when customer urgency exceeds available capacity. BONUS EXPERIENCE - Experience with AI-powered advertising or content experience solutions - Experience working with early stage industry innovation products HOW TO APPLY If you are ready to embark on an exhilarating journey at the forefront of AI, seize this incredible opportunity and apply here. We eagerly anticipate hearing from you! Note: Compensation and equity will be market-competitive for well-capitalized, early stage startups and will be discussed during the interview process.