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Business Operations Principal

Zendesk
Full-time
Remote
United States
$178,000 - $266,000 USD yearly

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 US annualized base salary range for this position is $178,000.00-$266,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

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.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re 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.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.