Senior Director, Project Management - Customer Success

Overview At SolarWinds, we’re a people-first company. Our purpose is to enrich the lives of the people we serve—including our employees, customers, shareholders, Partners, and communities. Join us in our mission to help customers accelerate business transformation with simple, powerful, and secure solutions. The ideal candidate thrives in an innovative, fast-paced environment and is collaborative, accountable, ready, and empathetic. We’re looking for individuals who believe they can accomplish more as a team and create lasting growth for themselves and others. We hire based on attitude, competency, and commitment. Solarians are ready to advance our world-class solutions in a fast-paced environment and accept the challenge to lead with purpose. If you’re looking to build your career with an exceptional team, you’ve come to the right place. Join SolarWinds and grow with us! As Director of Project Management, you will be responsible for leading all aspects of project management associated with the Customer Success organization. Lead continuous improvement to meet the demands of a growing Customer Success organization and ensure delivery excellence across all projects for customers and internal stakeholders. Develop and retain a team of project managers at multiple experience levels with a customer-focused mindset Lead the effective implementation of critical processes and tools to support project portfolio management for all project phases Works across departments to drive issue resolution and provide feedback on business processes to all functions. Develops staff through regular feedback, coaching, monitoring, and performance reviews. Develop and maintain strong internal partnerships with Sales, Customer Success, Product, Finance, and Marketing teams to achieve a stellar customer experience and company operational objectives Represent the project management function and services organization on cross-functional initiatives as needed Responsibilities This role will be responsible for building out the current processes and team from a Project Management standpoint. Leverage problem-solving and influencing skills to manage cross-functional project teams, stakeholders, and customer expectations. Exhibit outstanding communication, influencing, and collaboration skills to effectively drive project/program outcome Demonstrate a proven track record of excellent project management, bringing the ability to quickly put structure and process in place to manage work in a complex dynamic environment. Communicate regularly regarding project status, forecasts, and risks. Interface with executives to define project priorities and implementation opportunities and challenges and keep them up-to-date with project risks and opportunities. Partner with Sales and Customer Success to assist transitioning customers through the LAER model. Obtain an understanding of SolarWinds products while maintaining up-to-date industry knowledge. Handle escalations and facilitate prompt resolution for issues and concerns. Use every opportunity to strengthen relationships with departments and customers. Deliver and drive customer success KPI metrics on net retention in support of overall business unit goals. Establish and lead a KPI review cadence. Determine strategies for changing customer activity to more positively impact the business. Define operational metrics, establish a system for tracking metrics, and create cadence for internal review. Share key performance indicators with the executive team and drive implementations for changes. Define and optimize customer lifecycle - Map the customer journey, follow through on listening points (e.g., usage, satisfaction, etc.), standardize interventions for each point in the journey, define customer base segmentation, and implement continuous improvement strategies. Enable team through continuous process improvement and support the implementation of tools to drive efficiency and effectiveness. Enhance business scalability by assessing and reporting on the most effective technology solutions. Internal customer advocacy - Participate in and approve actions to support and fulfill customer needs. Provide team members 1:1 coaching and growth opportunities through a defined performance management process. Track individual training and professional development plans and carry out other managerial duties. Define the people capabilities, profiles, and skills of high-performing project managers. Motivate the team to reach its full capabilities. Recognize and develop high-potential team members while upgrading talent where and when necessary. Translate company goals into the functional department and individual career goals and provide support and guidance to the management team. Establish department succession plans. Develop global project management priorities and objectives. Implement and expand client processes that ensure long-term client relationships. Qualifications Basic Qualifications Bachelor's Degree required; minimum of 10 years of project management experience, including managing teams and developing or evolving project management practices in a technology environment Experience hiring, developing, and leading a world-class project management team; demonstrated people management capabilities including coaching, performance management, and succession management to drive high levels of employee engagement. Previous experience collaborating directly with renewals, sales, customer support, and products/engineering Proven ability to execute in a customer-focused environment and advocate for customers across a cross-functional organization Deep understanding of value drivers in recurring revenue business models Proven track record of project management practice in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment for a mix of both high and low-touch customers Capable leader with a passion for developing and coaching teams and driving a collaborative and accountable team environment Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally to realize positive business and operational outcomes Project management certification (PMP) and formal coursework/training in project management preferred Experience with CRM systems (Gainsight, Salesforce, NetSuite or similar) plus strong empathy for customers and a passion for driving revenue and growth Strong reasoning & analytical skills; able to structure thinking into a logical flow and sequence easy for others to understand; able to create and work with conceptual frameworks Demonstrated desire for continuous learning and improvement An enthusiastic and creative leader with the ability to inspire others Data-driven: experience with BI tools such as Tableau is a plus Crisp, compelling, and practical style of organizing thoughts into writing and speech; able to communicate with all levels in an organization Strong empathy for customers and a passion for revenue and growth; strong understanding of value drivers in recurring revenue business models Experience leading teams in multiple geographies An enthusiastic and creative leader with the ability to inspire others Able to prioritize, scope, plan, budget, and execute to move projects forward independently Adaptable with a growth mindset in support of own work; acts with urgency and integrity Able to establish positive relationships and collaborate with key stakeholders around accomplishing goals Proven ability to manage change process (communication, strategies, etc.) and multiple, competing priorities Accountable for results Preferred Qualifications Six to eight years of related experience, training, and equivalent education and experience will be considered. Expert-level knowledge of project and change management and associated methodologies, techniques, processes, and approaches PMP, PgMP, CAPM, and comparable project management certifications are highly desirable.