Head of Client Success

About this role

Job Title: Head of Client Success Position Summary: Penn Foster Group is seeking a transformational Head of Client Success to build and scale a modern, strategic client success organization. This leader will evolve the function from a highly transactional, reactive support model into a proactive, outcomes-driven partnership organization focused on measurable customer outcomes, long-term retention, and account growth. Reporting directly to the Chief Commercial Officer, the Head of Client Success will define the vision, operating model, segmentation strategy, and customer engagement approach needed to support a rapidly growing partnerships business. This role will play a critical part in improving partner outcomes, increasing learner success and completion rates, strengthening cross-functional alignment, and creating predictable recurring revenue growth. The ideal candidate is a builder and change leader who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys creating structure from the ground up, and can balance strategic vision with operational execution in a mission-driven, high-growth environment. About the Team & Business: Penn Foster’s Partnerships business is in a period of significant evolution and growth, supporting employer, healthcare, veteran, and public sector organizations ranging from small accounts to complex enterprise partnerships exceeding $1M in annual revenue. Today, the Client Success organization has built strong relationship foundations with partners and serves as a key point of contact for customer support and engagement. As the business continues to scale, there is a substantial opportunity to transform the function into a more strategic, consultative, and outcomes-oriented organization. The current Client Success team consists of approximately 7 Client Success Managers, with additional growth planned, as well as a Client Coordinator support function that partners closely with the team to support both partner and learner operational needs. The organization is seeking to implement greater structure, segmentation, accountability, and proactive customer engagement while improving learner outcomes, partner satisfaction, retention, and expansion opportunities. This role will define the future operating model for Client Success and help establish Penn Foster as a best-in-class strategic partner to its customers through a high-touch, outcomes-driven customer experience. Essential Job Functions:

Establish and operationalize the long-term vision for the Client Success function

Define what “great” looks like across the end-to-end customer lifecycle, from onboarding through renewal and expansion

Build a scalable, outcomes-driven client success playbook focused on customer value realization, learner outcomes, retention, and growth

Create infrastructure, processes, and operating rhythms that improve predictability across customer health, renewals, and expansion

Design and implement customer segmentation and tiered service models based on account size, complexity, and growth opportunity

Define engagement strategies, support models, and customer success expectations across segments

Establish a proactive, consultative customer engagement approach rooted in measurable business outcomes

Elevate the overall partner experience through responsive service, strategic partnership, and operational excellence

Evolve the organization from reactive account management to strategic partnership management

Build frameworks for account planning, customer health monitoring, executive engagement, and expansion opportunity identification

Support Client Success Managers in developing multi-threaded relationships across partner organizations

Partner closely with Sales to improve account handoffs, clarify ownership across expansion opportunities, and support long-term account growth

Lead, coach, and develop a team of Client Success Managers and Client Coordinators

Assess current team capabilities and organizational structure to support future scale and complexity

Establish clear performance expectations, accountability measures, and development pathways

Foster a culture of ownership, urgency, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer advocacy

Recruit and develop additional talent as needed to support business growth

Partner closely with Revenue Operations to define reporting, customer health metrics, forecasting inputs, and performance dashboards

Build consistent operating cadences including account reviews, business reviews, and renewal planning

Clarify workflows and partnership models between Client Success and operational support teams to improve scalability and reduce reactive work

Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Operations, Product, Academics, Marketing, and Revenue Operations to improve the end-to-end customer experience

Create actionable feedback loops that inform operational, product, and customer experience improvements

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

Proven ability to build or transform Client Success, Customer Success, Account Management, or strategic partnership functions in high-growth or evolving environments

Strong strategic and operational mindset with the ability to create scalable systems, processes, and team structures

Experience managing complex customer relationships and multi-stakeholder enterprise accounts

Demonstrated success driving retention, expansion, customer engagement, and measurable customer outcomes

Deep understanding of customer lifecycle management, segmentation strategies, and customer health methodologies

Ability to lead through ambiguity and drive organizational change effectively

Strong coaching, people leadership, and talent development capabilities

Excellent cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management skills

Strong communication, influence, and executive presence

Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution

Data-driven mindset with the ability to use metrics and insights to drive decision-making and…