Business Operations Principal

Job Description

Role Summary

The Principal Customer Experience is responsible for identifying designing and operationalizing AI-driven improvements that materially increase Customer Success Manager productivity reduce administrative overhead and unlock more high-value customer engagement.

This role leads a global cross-functional program that leverages existing systems data and emerging AI capabilities to rapidly experiment validate and scale solutions that improve how Customer Success delivers value. This role acts as a strategic partner to Customer Success leadership Product Operations Data & Analytics and Technology teams to embed intelligent workflows insights and automation into daily CS execution.

This is a high-impact transformation role with global scope focused on action measurable outcomes and adoption at scale.

Key Responsibilities

1. AI-Enabled CSM Efficiency & Workflow Automation

• Identify high-volume low-leverage CS workflows suitable for AI automation or augmentation
  

• Partner with Technology Product Ops and Analytics teams to design and deploy AI-driven capabilities including summaries action recommendations predictive insights and automated preparation
  

• Integrate AI capabilities into the existing CS tool stack to eliminate administrative friction
  

2. Global CS Efficiency Program Leadership

• Own a global program charter with clear workstreams milestones governance and operating cadence
  

• Prioritize initiatives based on ROI CSM time savings adoption impact and customer value
  

• Define and track program KPIs dashboards and success metrics
  

3. Experimentation Validation and Scale

• Run rapid pilots with global CSM cohorts
  

• Gather quantitative and qualitative feedback to validate effectiveness
  

• Iterate quickly sunset low-impact ideas and transition proven solutions into scaled operations
  

• Partner with Enablement and Ops to ensure adoption and behavior change
  

4. Data-Driven Insights & CSM Prioritization

• Collaborate with Analytics and CS Ops to deliver insights that help CSMs prioritize customer engagement
  

• Develop next-best-action recommendations predictive health signals and opportunity indicators
  

• Improve consistency and quality of decision-making across the CS organization
  

5. Cross-Functional Partnership & Stakeholder Alignment

• Serve as the connective tissue across CS CS Ops Product Engineering RevOps and AI teams
  

• Influence without authority to align priorities timelines and outcomes
  

• Represent CS workflows and requirements in internal AI strategy discussions
  

6. Global Enablement & Adoption

• Partner with CS Enablement to develop playbooks training and communications for AI-powered workflows
  

• Drive consistent adoption across regions while accounting for local nuance
  

• Establish continuous feedback loops to inform improvement
  

7. Change Leadership & Thought Partnership

• Evangelize the value of AI within Customer Success
  

• Build a culture of experimentation learning and data-driven execution
  

• Provide thought leadership on the evolving role of AI in Customer Success delivery
  

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Success will be measured through:

• Increase in customer-facing time
  

• Adoption and sustained usage of AI-enabled workflows
  

• Time-to-value from pilot to scaled rollout
  

• Accuracy and actionability of insights delivered to CSMs
  

• Improvement in renewal likelihood expansion identification and customer health signals
  

• CSM satisfaction and feedback on new tools and workflows
  

Required Experience & Qualifications

Experience

• 10 years in Customer Success CS Operations Digital CS Program Management or adjacent roles
  

• Proven experience leading global programs or transformation initiatives
  

• Demonstrated exposure and hands-on work to AI-enabled tools workflow automation or CS platform integrations
  

• Strong understanding of core CS motions including onboarding adoption value realization risk management and renewals
  

• Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams in a matrixed organization
  

Skills

• Program management excellence with a bias toward execution
  

• Strong working knowledge of AI concepts automation and data-driven workflows
  

• Ability to translate business problems into scalable AI-enabled solutions
  

• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills
  

• Analytical mindset with strong data literacy
  

Leadership Competencies

• Influence without authority
  

• Strategic problem solving
  

• Change leadership and adoption mindset
  

• Customer-centric thinking
  

• Execution discipline
  

Global Scope

• Acts as a global leader across all regions
  

• Balances consistency with regional nuance
  

• Engages global CSM cohorts for pilots feedback and rollout
  

Title & Reporting

Title: Director/Principal Customer Experience

Reporting to: VP Global CS & OCCO

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working enables us to purposefully come together in person at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world to connect collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

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Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer and were proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity equity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race color religion national origin age sex gender gender identity gender expression sexual orientation marital status medical condition ancestry disability military or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law please click here.

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